Software development powers the modern world, but behind every app, system, or service lies a story of challenges that teams must overcome. Our latest Developer Nation survey with over 10,500 responses from 127 countries reveals where these struggles really come from and how they impact developers across organisations of all sizes.
This post highlights some of the most eye-opening findings. For the full picture (and strategies to navigate these challenges), you can download the complete report here and become part of the Developer Nation community to contribute in our upcoming surveys. Let’s begin!
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1. Almost Every Developer Faces Challenges
A striking 88% of professional developers say they face at least one major challenge in their projects. This makes it clear that these problems are not outliers, they’re systemic across the industry.
Think of it this way: whether you’re in a startup of 5 or an enterprise with 5,000 engineers, you’ll encounter roadblocks. What changes is which challenges dominate, and how severely they affect progress.
2. Code and Documentation: The Top Pain Points
Nearly one-third of developers (31%) cited two issues as their biggest headaches:
- Unreadable or hard-to-maintain code (“as devs call it : the spaghetti code”)
- Insufficient or outdated documentation
Poor coding practices don’t just slow teams down, they create technical debt that makes future updates, debugging, and scaling far harder. Without proper documentation, onboarding new developers becomes a nightmare, often forcing reliance on senior engineers and dragging projects behind schedule.
Real-world takeaway: Companies that set strong coding and documentation practices early save themselves years of friction later.
3. The Challenge Multiplier: Team Size
The survey shows a direct correlation: the bigger the dev team, the more challenges they face.
- Small teams (up to 10 developers): 2.4 challenges on average
- Very large teams (over 1,000 developers): 3.0 challenges on average
For instance, 46% of developers in very large organisations say poor documentation is a key issue compared to just one-third of those in smaller teams. As systems and codebases grow, scaling without strong practices only compounds problems.
4. The Age Factor: Younger vs Older Organisations
Interestingly, younger organisations (under 5 years old) are more likely overall to face challenges (92%), often due to limited resources and the push for speed over process.
But there’s a twist: the average number of challenges per developer rises with company age. Developers in firms older than 30 years face 2.9 challenges each, compared to 2.3 in the youngest companies.
This suggests two truths:
- Younger companies feel the heat due to rapid growth and lack of structure.
- Older companies that don’t modernise accumulate technical debt and struggle to adapt their legacy systems.
Why This Matters for You
Whether you’re a solo dev in a startup or managing a thousand-strong engineering team, these findings highlight one clear reality: software development challenges are universal, but not unmanageable.
With the right processes, tools, and culture, organisations can reduce the friction points that stall innovation and create a healthier developer experience.
Want the Full Report?
This blog only scratches the surface – covering just about 40% of the insights. The full report dives deeper into:
- The role of third-party tools and outdated libraries
- How testing practices (or the lack of them) impact software quality
- Which industries and team setups face the biggest risks
👉 Download the complete report here to get the full breakdown and access exclusive insights.
And if you haven’t already, join the Developer Nation community a space where 100,000+ developers learn, share, and grow together.
Start the discussion at forum.developernation.net