Netlify releases Jamstack report, with serverless computing and remote work scoring high marks

Serverless computing is the norm, edge experimentation is growing and Web3 remains hype. 

These are some of the key findings in Netlify’s third annual Jamstack Community Survey, which gauges developer sentiment. 

“We love data,” said Matt Biilmann, CEO and cofounder of Netlify. “The survey highlights the trends of the community, for the community.” 

As he explained, the survey is designed to help developers learn from their peers, as well as to help businesses better gauge developer needs and preferences. Netlify will discuss the full findings at Jamstack Conf on November 7 and 8.

“We believe it’s hugely important to stay on top of trends in the Jamstack because these are the people building the future of the modern web,” said Biilmann. 

Serverless computing unlocking impactful work

Jamstack is a composable web development architecture that allows developers to create reusable components to more quickly and easily build apps and distribute to a global edge network. 

“The Jamstack ecosystem is rapidly evolving as more and more businesses are adopting composable architectures and developers are moving away from traditional monolithic websites and apps,” said Biilmann. 

Notably, Netlify’s survey of the Jamstack community found that the serverless cloud-native development model is officially mainstream: 70% of developers report using it, up from 46% last year. Meanwhile, 47% of developers are experimenting with edge dynamic sites. 

Biilmann pointed out that when serverless technologies become integrated into platforms, web developers can focus on building user experiences, rather than doing tedious devops work, managing infrastructure or instrumenting for core observability. 

“It increases developer productivity and frees up time to focus on the most impactful work,” he said. 

React still favorite; the great TypeScript migration continues

When it comes to application building, React continues to be the overwhelming favorite (71%), followed by Next.js. Nearly 1 in 2 developers (47%) said they built sites with Next.js in the last year. 

Still, newer entrants like Astro (11%) and SolidJS (6%) have had strong starts, and Remix (10%) and Sveltekit (15%) grew strongly year over year, according to the report. And, Vite saw an 18% increase since last year.

Also, the so-called “great TypeScript migration” continues, with the use of the language growing 110% in the last two years. 

Nearly a quarter of developers say TypeScript is their primary programming language. Still, 96% of developers use JavaScript (even if it isn’t their primary choice), per the report. 

When it comes to CMS preference, meanwhile, WordPress is used by 37% of developers, even though many report that their satisfaction with it is lower than alternatives. At the same time, WordPress as a stand-alone CMS is losing share, and using WordPress as a headless API to power a Jamstack site is at 22%. Newcomer Storyblok, meanwhile, is used by 9% of developers. 

“More and more developers realize the potential of headless architecture in building and deploying better web experiences,” said Dominik Angerer, CEO and founder of Storyblok.

At the same time, he said, a content team utilizing the power of Jamstack with a headless CMS “gets the content tools they need and love for creating great experiences on the frontend.”

Netlify reports Web3 still just a concept to developers

Interestingly, developers aren’t buying into the incredible hype of Web3. 

When asked about their attitude to Web3 in general, 42% of developers either don’t know what Web3 is or don’t care about it, while 31% felt negatively about it, according to the survey. 

Also, while 7% to 10% of developers have tried technologies like cryptocurrencies and NFTs, only 3% report using these technologies regularly. 

“Now that the storm has died down, we’ll get a better sense of what the underlying ideas of self-owned data and identity can really bring to the web,”’ said Biilmann. “The amount of active developers on the most popular Web3 platforms was always low compared to the hype around the sector.”

Remote work not just the norm: It’s expected

Not surprisingly given the pandemic, remote work has become the new normal. Remarkably, according to the survey, 55% of developers said they would even quit their jobs if forced to return to an office. Also, developers aren’t hesitant to job hop. 

Biilmann pointed out that Netlify was a remote company before the pandemic and called web development well-suited for remote work. 

“But it was interesting to see just how committed developers are to remote work, even in a year where offices began reopening,” he said. 

Per the survey:

• 83% of developers are working remotely more than half of the time. 
• 76% have maintained or increased their frequency of working remotely over the last year.
• 33% have changed jobs in the last year, with the most cited reasons being remote work flexibility, career growth opportunities and compensation.

The fact that flexible working policies are often more important to developers than compensation “shows how drastically the workforce has changed in the past few years,” said Biilmann. 

Ultimately, he noted, “I’m constantly inspired by the creativity happening across the Jamstack ecosystem, and the survey findings show that the pace of innovation isn’t slowing down anytime soon.”