How many Microsoft programmers are there in the United States?

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Request for Question Clarification by knowledge_seeker-ga on 22 Jul 2002 19:10 PDT

Hi rossbj,

Ok, I've been working on your question for a bunch of hours here and
I'm stuck for a couple of reasons.

1 -- "Microsoft Programmer" can mean a number of different things: Any
Certified Microsoft Professional, Only those Certified Microsoft
Professionals who currently hold the job title "Programmer" or anyone
who programs under the MS OS.

2 -- Whereas "programmer" is job title, "Microsoft" is a proprietary -
therefore there will be no government industry statistics delineating
Microsoft as a separate title. (It would be paramount to looking for
GM workers under Automobile service technicians)

3 -- Although Microsoft does provide stats for their certifications,
there is no way to tell how many of those people actually work as
programmers. A

4 -- Microsoft's certification data only provides world-wide
statistics, not broken down by country.



So, that said, I have Microsoft's Worldwide Certification data
(Current to April 2002), I have lots of data on Salaries as it
pertains to Microsoft Certifications (with numerous breakdowns), and I
have several IT surveys which include miscellaneous statistics and
demographics of respondents.

Would any or all of this qualify as an answer?  If so, I'll be happy
to post it all immediately.  Please respond as soon as you are able,
since my lock on this question cannot be held indefinitely.

Thank you -- K~

Hi Ross,

  Good day. In the age of the economic slowdown and job layoffs,
having an extra edge above the others is essential, especially in the
computer industry. Being a Microsoft Certified Programmer is one such
qualifications which gives a person the 'extra edge'. Coming to your
answer, there are various categories of Microsoft programmers, whose
statistics are given below

MCSD - Microsoft Certified Systems Developer
A Microsoft Certified Solution Developer certification lets you prove
your skills in designing and developing applications with Microsoft
tools, technologies, and architectural schemes.
Jul 2002   (33693) - Approx. 78% in US
Jun 2002   (32621) 
May 2002   (31414) 
Apr 2002   (30245) 

MCP - Microsoft Certified Professional
A Microsoft Certified Professional certification lets you prove your
skills on a single Microsoft product (for example, Windows 2000) or
set of job functions (such as implementing and administering a network
infrastructure).
Jul 2002   (789364) - Approx. 71% in US
Jun 2002   (778980) 
May 2002   (766488) 
Apr 2002   (754558) 

MCSE - Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer
The Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer credential is the premier
certification for IT professionals who analyze the business
requirements and design and implement the infrastructure for business
solutions based on Windows 2000 and other server software.
Implementation responsibilities include installing, configuring, and
troubleshooting network systems.
Jul 2002   (462878) - Approx 69% in US
Jun 2002   (456423) 
May 2002   (450596) 
Apr 2002   (444785) 

MCDBA - Microsoft Certified Data Base Administrator
The Microsoft Certified Database Administrator credential is the
premier certification for people who implement and administer
Microsoft SQL Server databases. You should consider it if you're
involved in developing physical database designs and logical data
models; creating physical databases; creating data services by using
Transact-SQL; managing and maintaining databases; configuring and
managing security; monitoring and optimizing databases; and installing
and configuring SQL Server.
Jul 2002   (62933) - Approx. 83% in US
Jun 2002   (59492) 
May 2002   (56582) 
Apr 2002   (54282) 

MCT - Microsoft Certified Trainer
The Microsoft Certified Trainer credential is the certification for
trainers who teach Microsoft technologies and products. MCTs typically
work for Certified Technical Education Centers (CTECs) or Authorized
Academic Training Providers (AATPs), as internal corporate trainers,
or independently.
Jul 2002   (15297) - Approx 75% in US
Jun 2002   (14911) 
May 2002   (14415) 
Apr 2002   (13928) 

MCP+I - Microsoft Certified Professional + Internet
The MCP+Internet certification expired on January 1, 2002, since the
exams leading to this skill set retired at the end of February 2001.
Microsoft has stated that the skill set covered by the MCP+I
certification is now encompassed within its current roster of Windows
2000 tests.
Jul 2002   (229119) - Approx 81% in US
Jun 2002   (229115) 
May 2002   (229124) 
Apr 2002   (229105) 

MCP+SB - Microsoft Certified Professional + Site Building 
An MCP+Site Building certification lets you prove your skills in
planning, building, maintaining, and managing Web sites with Microsoft
technologies. This is an appropriate type of certification for Web
developers, Web site producers, Web site managers, and Webmasters. The
sites you work on should encompass database connectivity, multimedia,
and searchable content.
Jul 2002   (1995) - Approx 92% in US
Jun 2002   (1984) 
May 2002   (1968) 
Apr 2002   (1947) 

MCSE+I - Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer + Internet
The MCSE+Internet certification is no longer available, since
Microsoft has retired many of the exams in this track. An upgrade path
isn't available. Microsoft has stated that the skill set covered by
the MCSE+I certification is now encompassed within its current roster
of Windows 2000 tests.
Jul 2002   (12379) - Approx 87% in US 
Jun 2002   (12363) 
May 2002   (12347) 
Apr 2002   (12337)

MCSA - Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer
An MCSA certification indicates proven skills in performing network
administrative and maintenance tasks on a Windows NT/2000 network.
Some MCSAs may be familiar with network design, but it's not a
required skill. (MCSAs who eventually want to prove expertise in
network infrastructure and design should look at obtaining an MCSE).
Numbers not available

Sources
-------
Microsoft Certified Professional Magazine
http://www.mcpmag.com/certbasics/

Microsoft Training & Certification
http://www.microsoft.com/traincert/

I hope this answers your question. In case you have any clarification,
then please don't hesitate to ask. If you're happy, then so am I :-)

Cheers,
aditya2k

Search Terms
number of microsoft certified programmers
microsoft programmers usa
microsoft certification

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Request for Answer Clarification by rossbj-ga on 24 Jul 2002 11:26 PDT

I am not so interested in the MS certification numbers, which do not
really paint a picture of the number of MS developers in the US. Many
(if not most) MS developers aren't certified, so those numbers don't
really tell me much.

More specifically, I would like to find the number of developers using
Microsoft languages writing for the Microsoft Windows platform.

Thanks,
rossbj

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Clarification of Answer by aditya2k-ga on 24 Jul 2002 16:43 PDT

Hi ross,

  Apparently, you meant something else when you specified Microsoft
Programmers. Microsoft programmers is a term used for people who are
Microsoft Certified Programmers. The numbers you require (number of
developers using Microsoft languages) are not accurately available.
One cannot go by the number of licenses, since software piracy exists.
I've managed to research some information though.

Globally, there are approximately 9.9 million developers including
corporate developers of which 4.9 million develop for their own use,
2.5 million end-user developers who work in such organizations, and
2.5 million professional developers who develop customized software
for corporates. (src :
http://www.msdevelopersaleskit.com/msdn/intro-why-sell-msdn.htm)

There are an estimated 5.5 million developers (approx 55%) in USA, 4.2
million of which use Microsoft languages.

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/01_47/b3758004.htm (Nov
19, 2001)
"With 7 million developers, Microsoft has the raw-numbers advantage
over Sun's Java, which has about 1 million developers"

http://zdnet.com.com/2100-11-527309.html?legacy=zdnn (Jan 17, 2001)
"The 3 million software developers using Microsoft's Visual Basic
language will face some tough choices when the company ships the new
version of its programming suite later this year."

http://www.ddj.com/documents/s=868/ddj0104l/0104l.htm (April 2001)
"Today, 57.2 percent of the general developer community uses Visual
Basic, a slight decrease compared to the March 2000 result of 62
percent. Of those developers who said they use Visual Basic over half
of the time, 42.2 percent are "absolutely" or "probably" going to try
C# next year. The North American respondents showed a generally
positive attitude towards C# among developers. Thirty percent of
developers said they are likely to try using Microsoft's new C# in the
next year. The positive response was weaker among C/C++ users compared
to Visual Basic users. Of those who use C/C++ more than half of the
time, 29.9 percent expressed interest in trying C#. Among those who
use Java more than half of the time, 23.4 percent said they are likely
to try using C#."

http://msdn.microsoft.com/visualc/productinfo/previous/vc6/new.asp
".....Based on feature requests from more than 1.5 million developers
using Visual C++....."

http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104-899493.html (May 6, 2002)
"Twelve percent of all North American software developers have begun
using C#, up from 7 percent six months ago, according to a new survey
by market research firm Evans Data. The firm also predicts that the
number of programmers using C# will double to 24 percent in the next
year."

http://www.microsoft.com/business/partners/
"... Expertise from more than 6 million developers worldwide who use
Microsoft development tools to build more than 10,000 solutions—for
e-commerce, enterprise ..."

http://news.com.com/2100-1001-836235.html (Feb 13, 2002)
"... The tools bundle replaces the existing Visual Studio tools--used
by some 5 million developers, according to Microsoft--and includes
several new features, along ... "

http://news.com.com/2100-1001-837428.html (Feb 14, 2002)
"Although the tool bundle was released Wednesday, Microsoft said that
more than 3.5 million developers had beta test copies of Visual
Studio.Net. It was the largest beta test program in Microsoft's
history."

http://news.com.com/2100-1001-236913.html?tag=bplst (Feb 15, 2000)
"... With about 3.2 million developers using Visual Basic today,
Microsoft wants to make it easy for Windows developers to migrate to
Web development, said Bill ..."

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/modcore/html/deoriMicrosoftOffice2002Developer.asp
"... More than 2.6 million developers currently are using Office ..."

http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/productinfo/vsfacts.asp
"... More than 3 million developers are members of Microsoft's MSDN
program, and receive software and services monthly ..."

Once again, these figures are not accurate and represent worldwide
figures. US developers are approximately 55%.

I've tried my best to get what you wanted, although my personal
opinion is that certified developers are the actual developers. I
notice a comment below mentioning something about an 8 year old kid. I
won't go into that though.

If you need something further, then please do ask and I'll try to
clarify it.

Cheers,
aditya2k

I think I feel sorry for you knowledge-seeker, working all those hours
for apparently zero reward.

> I think I feel sorry for you knowledge-seeker, 
> working all those hours for apparently zero reward.

As do I; I was writing a clarification for knowledge-seeker and when I
went to post it, I discovered the question had been answered as I was
typing. Maybe some kind of lock extension privilege could be given to
those with a certain high-enough rating. Just a thought.

-rossbj

I think the question asker fails to understand the meaning of
Microsoft Programmer. A Microsoft Programmer is a certified MS
programmer, and not some Tom Dick and Harry person who is called a
programmer just because he can create a button using VB. I think Ross
assumes that an 8-yr old kid who can create a calculator in VB is
called a Microsoft Programmer :p

On one hand, knowledge-seeker should be sympathized with, but nothing
is lost for him. He is still a great researcher. On the other hand,
aditya2k, despite answering correctly, could lose the money earned,
simply because ross framed his question incorrectly. I wonder how
aditya2k will get out of this. I wonder if Google Editors will
intervene.

Cheers,
Crickadi

I agree, "Microsoft programmer" is certainly does not convery any
idiot who wrote something that runs under the windows platform, but i
guess if you pay big you can ask vague misleading questions if you
like :P

I think the actual question was , how many programmers microsoft has
developing software for their new operative system Long Horn and Xp
upgrades , as well as all microsoft packages (office , .NET Visual
Studio , etc ) , hardware drivers and microsft games (and the list
continues) .

In few words , how many programmers work at Microsoft creating and
developing the software that we use .