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# Coming Soon: Access Developer Survey
- URL: https://nolongerset.com/coming-soon-access-developer-survey/
- Published: 2023-07-21T21:07:36.000Z
- Updated: 2026-05-08T12:34:21.000Z
- Description: MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT: NoLongerSet will be launching its inaugural Access Developer Survey soon. I need your help!
- Author: Mike Wolfe
- Tags: Announcement, #Import 2026-05-20 02:59

Every year since 2011, Stack Overflow has conducted an [annual developer survey](https://insights.stackoverflow.com/survey).

It's a great way to get insights into the world of software developers:

- What languages do they like? Do they use?
- How long have they been programming?
- Do they program professionally? In what role?
- Where do they live?
- Etc.

There's one slight problem: it doesn't actually represent "the world of software developers." It represents the world of software developers *who spend a lot of time on Stack Overflow.*

## Missing Representation

One group that is *not* well represented on the Stack Overflow developer survey are VBA developers–and Microsoft Access developers, specifically.

I'm basing this on two things:

- VBA routinely ranks as one of the five "most dreaded" languages in the survey
- Stack Overflow as a community is incredibly hostile to Access developers

Call it a hunch, but I don't think Access developers are well represented on the Stack Overflow survey.

## Missing Questions

There are some very Access developer-centric questions that don't get asked on the Stack Overflow survey for obvious reasons: they don't apply to most respondents.

But there are some things I'm genuinely curious about, like:

- What version of Access do most developers use for development? Production?
- What percentage of Access applications are still 32-bit only?
- What backend do people use: Access? SQL Server? Does *anyone* use Dataverse?

Inquiring minds (mine, at least) want to know!

## Let's Do Something About It

I've decided to launch my own annual survey of Access developers.

But I need *your help* to do it. Specifically, I need the following things:

- Propose questions in the comments below
- Promote the survey to others
- Take the survey yourself

In addition to your suggestions, I will be taking my inspiration from the Stack Overflow Developer Survey and [Karl Donaubauer's AEK Survey](https://www.accessforever.org/post/which-access-versions-do-developers-use).

I already have an intern hard at work at building the survey. We're using the open-source tool [LimeSurvey](https://www.limesurvey.org/) as our survey software. I'm still working on building a question list (suggestions welcome). I apologize in advance if your suggested question doesn't make the cut. I have to balance my need to learn as much as possible with the reality that no one wants to spend thirty minutes filling out a survey.

My goal is to finalize the question list and get the survey live by the end of August. Once the survey is live, I will leave it up until responses start to trail off. In future years, we'll have a more defined start and end date. 

*Cover image created with [Microsoft Designer](https://designer.microsoft.com/)*