Game of Codes
What if back-end technologies were countries?
"Over the years, observing the world of technology, I could not help but feel that it is a great material for creating a separate universe that could become the basis for an extremely interesting story.
Using real data, such as the number of NPM downloads, stars on github, website traffic and other data, I tried to measure the "power" of a given technology and visualize it with quasi-historical maps."
Its downfall was foretold over the years. It was said that it was at the end of its existence, that it would be destroyed by others, more modern, stronger, more efficient.
Everyone was wrong. The PHP Empire continues and is stronger than ever. Can anything threaten its domination?
Methodology
The methodology used is simple - the size of a given country depends on statistics taken from w3techs.com.
Specifically from the report "Historical yearly trends in the usage statistics of server-side programming languages for websites"
I used the latest data from 1.04.2022. That is:
| Name | Usage |
|---|---|
| PHP | 77.6% |
| ASP.NET | 7.8% |
| Ruby | 6.0% |
| Java | 3.9% |
| Scala | 2.6% |
| JavaScript | 1.9% |
| Python | 1.3% |
Status and names
In naming, I adopted a simple rule - PHP is an empire because it "conquered" the largest part of the market and swallowed many other "countries".
Ruby nad ASP.NET are kingdoms because they are of medium power and size.
Java, Scala, Python and JavaScript, as the smallest of all, have merely the status of a duchy.
History
The full potential of the front-end story reveals itself when we look back a few years.
When I look at this map from 2011, I immediately see numerous dramas, successes, failures and unexpected twists in the lives of our "characters" in this fascinating backend story.
In 2011, the PHP Empire also dominated, but had a strong rival in the form of the ASP.NET Kingdom.
The Duchies of Scala and JavaScript did not yet exist as independent entities.
The kingdom of Ruby was confined to a small territory around its capital.
The kingdom of Java hasn't changed much over the years. It is true that it has managed to gain a bit more territory and strengthen its position a bit, but compared to the expansion of other technologies, it is not very impressive.
About me
Hi!
My name is Michał and apart from being a web developer and professional dancer (yes, that's true - see my video 😂) I am also a huge fan of history, maps and fantasy.
Over the years, observing the world of technologies, I could not help but feel that it is a great material for creating a separate universe that could become the basis for an extremely interesting story.
This project is purely for fun. Using real data, such as the number of NPM downloads, stars on github or website traffic, I tried to measure the "power" of a given technology and visualize it with quasi-historical maps.
I was also tempted to write a mini-story that could happen in such an imaginary universe.
Anyway - if you're curious about what front-end technologies visualized as states would look like, read on.
And if you have any idea how this story and this universe could become more interesting, or more in line with real statistics related to the front-end - let me know in the comment!
Give feedback and ideas Find me on Twitter
