From mass layoffs to threats to remote working capabilities, it’s not surprising that the vast majority of software developers aren’t happy with their jobs.
That’s according to Stack Overflow’s most recent Developer Survey which found that 32.1% of developers are not happy in their current roles and 47.7% feel complacent towards their jobs.
Some of the cited reasons for this discontent include technical debt (62.4%) along with having to rely on tools and systems that aren’t fit for purpose (31.2%).
5 tech job hiring across the U.S.
- Software Developer – Security Clearance Required, Accenture Federal Services, Washington
- Senior Generative AI Product Engineer (Remote-Eligible), Capital One, New York
- AI Prompt Writer (Tier 1) – Immediate Start, Outlier, Dallas
- Senior Principal Software Engineer-Software Technical Authority, Raytheon, Needham
- Senior Software Development Engineer, amazon.com, Clifton
If you find yourself nodding along to the above, is there anything you can do (besides finding a new job) to help put the spark back into your career?
Upskilling is one way — the Stack Overflow data also identified that when developers had the ability to improve quality of code and developer environments along with learning new tech, they felt more job satisfaction.
Get your mojo (back)
One of the best ways to tap into this learning and development mindset is arguably to upskill in a new programming language.
And Mojo, a relatively new kid on the block which was launched in May 2023, is a worthy contender.
Developed by Modular AI with the objective of combining the ease of use of a dynamic language (such as JavaScript, Python or Ruby) with speed (similar to Swift, Kotlin or C++), Mojo has been created with AI (Mojo makes it possible to write everything for enterprise AI/ML solutions in one language) and performance optimization in mind, as it can be up to 35,000 times faster than Python.
It also bridges the gap between research and production by combining Python syntax and dynamic typing along with the import and utilization of any Python ecosystem, and has been designed for writing AI software.
Other benefits include efficient data handling and manipulation capabilities and native support for AI and machine learning tasks.
With AI the hot topic on everyone’s lips — the global market size is expected to reach $3,680.47bn by 2034, expanding at a CAGR of 19.1% from 2024 to 2034 — it makes sense that it has acquired 175,000 developers, 23,000 stars on Github, and 22,000 community members in the two years since it launched.
And while a new programming language has its limitations and those who are working with Mojo don’t have access to the same kind of developer community that Java or Python boast, being an early adopter also has its advantages, as those who get on board now have the ability to make a meaningful contribution to the evolution of the language.
In fact, when Mojo released version 24.5 in October of this year, many of the improvements made came courtesy of its community of users. Its previous update in June included 30 new features in the standard library suggested by users, which accounted for 11% of all improvements.
Use cases
Mojo can also be used for API development and AI app web development. It features its own web framework, Mojolicious, which offers a comprehensive set of tools and features for building advanced web applications.
It can also be used for AI/ML development thanks to its data handling capabilities and for developing scripts and programs to automate tasks thanks to AI/ML task automation.
Additionally, Mojo has the capability to support the complex computations and numerical operations that make scientific computing possible.
Want to get started? Access more information about Mojo or read through Mojo’s capabilities.
Whether you’re a software developer looking to make your next move or want to pivot to new areas of tech, visit the VentureBeat Job Board today.
