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 42
Rarely 24
Sometimes 20
Regularly 14
All the time 4
a Sample size = 104

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# 9 4 91
Java / Scala 5 4 95
Javascript / Typescript 11 5 88
Python 17 5 82
R 23 5 76
SAS 22 5 77
SPSS 40 3 61
SQL 33 6 65
Stata 14 5 85
VBA 24 5 75
a Sample size = 104

Access to programming tools

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Programming language Yes Don't know No
C++ / C# 6 54 44
Java / Scala 2 58 44
Javascript / Typescript 9 55 40
Python 12 47 45
R 15 47 42
SAS 47 33 24
SPSS 50 26 28
SQL 47 41 16
Stata 25 49 30
VBA 32 48 24
a Sample size = 104

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# 2 4 5
Java / Scala 1 1 4
Javascript / Typescript 3 6 5
Python 11 1 16
R 11 4 19
SAS 27 20 2
SPSS 20 30 10
SQL 18 29 4
Stata 13 12 2
VBA 12 20 4
a Sample size = 104

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 43 45
Data Cleaning 22 23
Data Transfer / Migration 22 24
Data Visualisation 56 21
Quality Assurance 46 28
a Sample size = 104

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 13
Slightly worse 21
No change 14
Slightly better 12
Significantly better 7
a Sample size = 67

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 16
In education 37
In private sector employment 4
In public sector employment 12
Self-taught 7
Other 0
a Sample size = 77

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 8.1 53.2 9.7 12.9 9.7 6.5
I follow a standard directory structure when programming 22.6 21.0 12.9 17.7 17.7 8.1
I follow coding guidelines or style guides when programming 3.2 27.4 12.9 19.4 30.6 6.5
I use a source code version control system e.g. Git 17.7 58.1 9.7 3.2 6.5 4.8
Code my team writes is reviewed by a colleague 0.0 32.3 11.3 27.4 17.7 11.3
I write repetitive elements in my code as functions 1.6 30.6 12.9 22.6 22.6 9.7
I collect my code and supporting material into packages 16.1 51.6 11.3 6.5 8.1 6.5
I unit test my code 19.4 41.9 9.7 11.3 11.3 6.5
I write code to automatically quality assure data 0.0 48.4 19.4 22.6 6.5 3.2
My team open sources its code 14.5 67.7 6.5 9.7 1.6 0.0
a Sample size = 62

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 17.7 62.9 8.1 6.5 3.2 1.6
Data or assumptions registers 16.1 53.2 11.3 12.9 4.8 1.6
Documentation for each function or class 12.9 51.6 11.3 11.3 9.7 3.2
Code comments 4.8 17.7 8.1 11.3 24.2 33.9
Flow charts 3.2 53.2 17.7 19.4 4.8 1.6
README files 6.5 43.5 9.7 25.8 11.3 3.2
Desk notes 0.0 19.4 6.5 17.7 38.7 17.7
a Sample size = 62

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 1
No 32
Don't know what they are 29
a Sample size = 62

Source control platform

The number of users of each source control platform.

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Version control platform Yes
GitHub 5
GitLab 0
BitBucket 0
AWS CodeCommit 0
Cloud Source Repository (Google Cloud) 4
a Sample size = 62

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 68
Heard of RAP, have not heard of RAP champions 7
Heard of RAP, does not know department champion 7
Heard of RAP champions, no champion in department 1
Knows department RAP champion 17
a Sample size = 104

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 8.3 27.8 2.8 50.0 11.1
I feel confident implementing RAP in my work 22.2 30.6 19.4 19.4 8.3
I think it is important to implement RAP in my work 11.1 2.8 19.4 41.7 25.0
I feel supported to implement RAP in my work 16.7 16.7 38.9 27.8 0.0
I know where to find resources to help me implement RAP 13.9 22.2 25.0 33.3 5.6
I and/or my team are currently implementing RAP 19.4 25.0 30.6 25.0 0.0
a Sample size = 36

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 9
Peer review Basic 18
Team open source code Basic 1
Use open source software Basic 10
Version control Basic 7
Code packages Advanced 9
Continuous integration Advanced 4
Dependency management Advanced 7
Follow code style guidelines Advanced 23
Function documentation Advanced 8
Functions Advanced 20
Unit testing Advanced 11
a Sample size = 62

Basic RAP scores

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Basic RAP score Count
0 74
1 22
2 3
3 3
4 2
a Sample size = 62

Advanced RAP scores

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Advanced RAP score Count
0 28
1 13
2 8
3 6
4 4
6 2
7 1
a Sample size = 62