Coding frequency and tools

Coding frequency

We asked our respondents, “In my current role, I write code to complete my work objectives _____”.

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Coding frequency Count
Never 1
Rarely 2
Sometimes 10
Regularly 19
All the time 12
a Sample size = 44

Access to and knowledge of programming languages

For each of the most popular programming languages from last year’s CARS data, we asked respondents to answer “yes”, “no” or “I don’t know” for the following statements:

  • I know how to program with this tool to a level suitable for my work
  • This tool is available to use for my work

Knowledge of programming tools

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Programming language Yes Don't know No
C++ / C# 2 4 38
Java / Scala 8 4 32
Javascript / Typescript 6 5 33
Python 15 2 27
R 23 2 19
SAS 38 1 5
SPSS 11 4 29
SQL 27 3 14
Stata 6 6 32
VBA 19 3 22
a Sample size = 44

Access to programming tools

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Programming language Yes Don't know No
C++ / C# 4 20 20
Java / Scala 9 19 16
Javascript / Typescript 5 20 19
Python 18 11 15
R 28 6 10
SAS 41 1 2
SPSS 11 16 17
SQL 29 10 5
Stata 10 20 14
VBA 30 9 5
a Sample size = 44

Access and knowledge gaps

We used the above data to calculate the number of respondents who have access but no knowledge, access and knowledge, and knowledge but no access for each programming language.

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Programming language Access only Access and knowledge Knowledge only
C++ / C# 4 0 2
Java / Scala 3 6 2
Javascript / Typescript 1 4 2
Python 6 12 3
R 13 15 8
SAS 3 38 0
SPSS 9 2 9
SQL 7 22 5
Stata 6 4 2
VBA 12 18 1
a Sample size = 44

What are people using code for?

We asked respondents what data operations they do in their work, and whether they use code to do them.

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Data operation I do this without coding I do some or all of this by coding
Data Analysis 0 43
Data Cleaning 3 31
Data Transfer / Migration 1 21
Data Visualisation 18 20
Quality Assurance 6 36
a Sample size = 44

Coding capability

We asked respondents a series of questions about whether they feel their coding ability is improving in their current role and where they first learned to code.

Change in coding ability during current role

Respondents who had coding experience outside of their current role were asked whether there has been a change in their coding ability during current employment.

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Coding ability changes Count
Significantly worse 2
Slightly worse 2
No change 14
Slightly better 15
Significantly better 7
a Sample size = 40

Where respondents have learned to code

Respondents were asked whether they had coding experience outside their current role and, if so, where.

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First coding experience Count
In current role 7
In education 20
In private sector employment 1
In public sector employment 9
Self-taught 7
Other 0
a Sample size = 44

Coding practices

We asked respondents to report how often they make use of each of the coding practices. Please note that while there are many different coding practices listed below, we understand that not all are proportionate for every coding project.

General coding practices

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Percent
Question I don't understand this question Never Rarely Sometimes Regularly All the time
I use open source software when programming 11.6 30.2 25.6 9.3 4.7 18.6
I follow a standard directory structure when programming 34.9 2.3 9.3 11.6 25.6 16.3
I follow coding guidelines or style guides when programming 2.3 2.3 7.0 25.6 39.5 23.3
I use a source code version control system e.g. Git 14.0 62.8 2.3 4.7 0.0 16.3
Code my team writes is reviewed by a colleague 0.0 0.0 7.0 34.9 30.2 27.9
I write repetitive elements in my code as functions 4.7 4.7 14.0 30.2 23.3 23.3
I collect my code and supporting material into packages 4.7 41.9 7.0 27.9 7.0 11.6
I unit test my code 39.5 16.3 7.0 11.6 9.3 16.3
I write code to automatically quality assure data 4.7 14.0 11.6 51.2 11.6 7.0
My team open sources its code 18.6 60.5 16.3 0.0 2.3 2.3
a Sample size = 43

Documentation

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Percent
Question I don't understand this question Never Rarely Sometimes Regularly All the time
Analytical Quality Assurance (AQA) logs 9.3 44.2 20.9 14.0 7.0 4.7
Data or assumptions registers 16.3 18.6 30.2 16.3 7.0 11.6
Documentation for each function or class 9.3 14.0 16.3 30.2 18.6 11.6
Code comments 0.0 2.3 2.3 7.0 30.2 58.1
Flow charts 0.0 30.2 18.6 39.5 9.3 2.3
README files 4.7 18.6 20.9 30.2 14.0 11.6
Desk notes 25.6 23.3 14.0 7.0 20.9 9.3
a Sample size = 43

Reproducible workflow packages

We asked respondents “do you use reproducible workflow packages e.g. drake, make or pymake?”.

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Use reproducible workflow packages Count
Yes 2
No 21
Don't know what they are 20
a Sample size = 43

Source control platform

The number of users of each source control platform.

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Version control platform Yes
GitHub 5
GitLab 8
BitBucket 0
AWS CodeCommit 0
Cloud Source Repository (Google Cloud) 0
a Sample size = 43

RAP knowledge and opinions

Knowledge of RAP and RAP champions

We asked our respondents whether they had heard of RAP and what their knowledge is of their own department RAP champion.

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RAP champion knowledge Count
Have not heard of RAP 16
Heard of RAP, have not heard of RAP champions 4
Heard of RAP, does not know department champion 14
Heard of RAP champions, no champion in department 0
Knows department RAP champion 8
a Sample size = 44

Opinions on RAP

We asked our respondents who had heard of RAP the extent to which they agree with the following statements:

  • “I understand what the key components of the RAP methodology are”
  • “I feel confident implementing RAP in my work”
  • “I think it is important to implement RAP in my work”
  • “I feel supported to implement RAP in my work”
  • “I know where to find resources to help me implement RAP”
  • “I and/or my team are currently implementing RAP”

The figure and table show the percentage of respondents who picked each response option. Percentages are out of a sample of respondents who said they had heard of RAP.

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Percent
Question Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree
I understand what the key components of the RAP methodology are 3.6 21.4 10.7 57.1 7.1
I feel confident implementing RAP in my work 21.4 32.1 7.1 25.0 14.3
I think it is important to implement RAP in my work 0.0 14.3 35.7 35.7 14.3
I feel supported to implement RAP in my work 14.3 32.1 35.7 17.9 0.0
I know where to find resources to help me implement RAP 17.9 35.7 14.3 28.6 3.6
I and/or my team are currently implementing RAP 32.1 35.7 10.7 10.7 10.7
a Sample size = 28

RAP scores

RAP components

The frequencies for each RAP component below are derived from a series of questions on coding practices (see the coding practices page). These were used to calculate scores for each component (0/1) where respondents answered “regularly” or “all the time” to the relevant questions. The list of RAP components used here is based on the RAP minimum viable product guidance agreed by the RAP champions network.

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Component Type Count
Documentation Basic 10
Peer review Basic 25
Team open source code Basic 2
Use open source software Basic 10
Version control Basic 7
Code packages Advanced 8
Continuous integration Advanced 3
Dependency management Advanced 11
Follow code style guidelines Advanced 27
Function documentation Advanced 13
Functions Advanced 20
Unit testing Advanced 11
a Sample size = 43

Basic RAP scores

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Basic RAP score Count
0 12
1 20
2 5
3 4
4 3
a Sample size = 43

Advanced RAP scores

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Advanced RAP score Count
0 9
1 11
2 6
3 7
4 3
5 5
6 2
a Sample size = 43