Druid Tech Survey 2021: the technologies we use and like

At Druid we’ve decided to establish a tradition to keep a record of the technologies we use in our projects and to take note of the technologies we would like to use more in our work.

It will be inspiring to review statistics in the coming years and see what kinds of turns we have taken along the way in terms of technology stack choices on our quest to create top quality digital solutions. And it’s always interesting to look back on history to check what has become obsolete, what tech we have chosen instead and why.

We started this spring by conducting our very first tech survey. We asked our software developers about the technologies they are currently using and the trends and languages they’re enthusiastic about. The answers gave us a deeper insight into the range of technologies we’re using and what we think will stick with us in the foreseeable future.

Technologies we use now

Since the company’s foundation in 2012, Drupal has been the main technology we’ve relied on in our projects. It is still the case, as almost 80% of our developers are engaged in Drupal-based projects. Around a third of the developers build digital solutions using the Symfony framework.

When it comes to frontend, state-of-the-art Drupal frontend solutions based on Vanilla JS and jQuery, as well as building custom themes and templates with Twig, JS and CSS, are in heavy use currently in Drupal.

However, we see the growing importance of JavaScript frameworks and already use some of them whenever they fit the project goals. More than 65% of our developers work with JS based technologies. A quarter of our frontenders are currently involved in building and supporting the React Apps. Less often we use Vue and Angular.

To summarize, the most popular languages and frameworks we use today are PHP, Drupal, JavaScript, Symfony, TypeScript, React, Vue. But of course, regardless of the tech we use in our projects, the focus always lies on security, scalability, usability, accessibility, and high performance.

Technologies we would like to use – and to avoid

When it comes to personal preferences, we see a surging interest in JavaScript, both for backend and frontend parts.

Backend frameworks and languages

In backend development, some of us still see themselves doing projects with Drupal and Symfony. However, the number of people who would like to switch to JS based backend and serverless architecture has grown significantly, while interest in Drupal is slowly going down. Both serverless and headless architecture were mentioned in the survey as promising directions. API based solutions and ecommerce have also gained steady interest.

Frontend frameworks and languages

As to frontend development, the role of JS technologies is definitely growing in our current projects. React, Vue, and Angular have already become part of our business solutions. This is also reflected in the survey results. Interest in leading-edge React and Vue is strong among our frontenders while Angular has lost its former popularity. The survey also demonstrates a rising interest in TypeScript.

Things to avoid

The majority of our developers answered that they are quite flexible, quick to learn and ready to work with whatever suits the project best. But not surprisingly, they would rather avoid any obsolete technologies. Some are not enthusiastic about working with Drupal 7 anymore as it’s reaching end-of-life soon and a much better, up-to-date Drupal 9 version is already in use – and the upcoming release of Drupal 10 isn’t far away either.

Open source, open attitude

At Druid we want to make the digital world more functional with every line of our code – with open source and an open attitude, as our motto goes.

According to the survey, more than half of our developers are members of online developer communities, and some of them contribute to Drupal or at least are active members of the Drupal community. In addition, half of our developers said they participate in meetups, hackathons or webinars.

We have always been focusing on building reliable code and high-quality, long-lasting digital solutions that add value to the customer’s business. The right choice of technologies is necessary to deliver a good product – but technology as such is never the priority, customer needs are. And those needs guide everything we do.

PS. If you have matching skills and interests, take a look at our career site. We are hiring 😉