| Career Stage | AI/ML | Cloud/DevOps | Front-End | Back-End | Mobile | n(row) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Junior | 1532 | 1893 | 2104 | 1856 | 1428 | 8813 |
| Mid-career | 2215 | 2754 | 2532 | 2647 | 1983 | 12131 |
| Senior+ | 1876 | 2431 | 2143 | 2362 | 1452 | 10264 |
Table X. Distribution of observations across career stages and skill domains. Each cell contains the number of developers in that combination.
| Career Stage | Skill Domain | Top Learning Method | Score (Mean ± SD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Junior | AI/ML | OnlineCourses | 7.60 ± 1.40 |
| Junior | AI/ML | Documentation | 6.80 ± 1.53 |
| Junior | AI/ML | Community | 6.20 ± 1.33 |
| Junior | Cloud/DevOps | Documentation | 6.50 ± 1.45 |
| Junior | Cloud/DevOps | Mentorship | 6.20 ± 1.44 |
| Junior | Cloud/DevOps | Community | 5.90 ± 1.20 |
| Junior | Front-End | Community | 7.30 ± 1.39 |
| Junior | Front-End | OpenSource | 7.00 ± 1.19 |
| Junior | Front-End | OnlineCourses | 6.50 ± 1.62 |
| Junior | Back-End | FormalEducation | 6.80 ± 0.86 |
| Junior | Back-End | Mentorship | 6.50 ± 1.17 |
| Junior | Back-End | Books | 5.80 ± 1.08 |
| Junior | Mobile | OnlineCourses | 6.90 ± 0.90 |
| Junior | Mobile | Community | 6.20 ± 1.52 |
| Junior | Mobile | Documentation | 5.70 ± 1.49 |
| Mid-career | AI/ML | OpenSource | 7.80 ± 1.54 |
| Mid-career | AI/ML | Community | 7.50 ± 0.94 |
| Mid-career | AI/ML | OnlineCourses | 6.70 ± 1.42 |
| Mid-career | Cloud/DevOps | Documentation | 7.80 ± 1.68 |
| Mid-career | Cloud/DevOps | Community | 7.50 ± 0.97 |
| Mid-career | Cloud/DevOps | OpenSource | 7.20 ± 1.50 |
| Mid-career | Front-End | OpenSource | 7.60 ± 0.81 |
| Mid-career | Front-End | Community | 7.40 ± 1.57 |
| Mid-career | Front-End | Documentation | 6.90 ± 0.91 |
| Mid-career | Back-End | OpenSource | 7.30 ± 1.31 |
| Mid-career | Back-End | Documentation | 7.10 ± 1.29 |
| Mid-career | Back-End | Books | 6.80 ± 1.61 |
| Mid-career | Mobile | Community | 7.20 ± 0.83 |
| Mid-career | Mobile | Documentation | 6.80 ± 1.17 |
| Mid-career | Mobile | OpenSource | 6.60 ± 1.39 |
| Senior+ | AI/ML | OpenSource | 8.10 ± 1.39 |
| Senior+ | AI/ML | Mentorship | 7.80 ± 1.17 |
| Senior+ | AI/ML | Books | 7.20 ± 1.08 |
| Senior+ | Cloud/DevOps | OpenSource | 8.20 ± 1.33 |
| Senior+ | Cloud/DevOps | Documentation | 7.90 ± 1.35 |
| Senior+ | Cloud/DevOps | Community | 7.60 ± 1.33 |
| Senior+ | Front-End | OpenSource | 7.80 ± 1.45 |
| Senior+ | Front-End | Community | 7.50 ± 1.41 |
| Senior+ | Front-End | Mentorship | 7.30 ± 0.99 |
| Senior+ | Back-End | OpenSource | 7.90 ± 1.27 |
| Senior+ | Back-End | Mentorship | 7.70 ± 1.14 |
| Senior+ | Back-End | Documentation | 7.40 ± 1.05 |
| Senior+ | Mobile | Mentorship | 7.60 ± 1.35 |
| Senior+ | Mobile | OpenSource | 7.40 ± 1.15 |
| Senior+ | Mobile | Community | 7.00 ± 1.46 |
Table Y. Mean ± standard deviation of normalized pathway effectiveness scores (0-10 scale). Higher scores indicate greater effectiveness of the learning method for the given career stage and skill domain.
| Learning Method | Skill Domain | F(df) | p | η² |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Documentation | Cloud/DevOps | 12.40 (2, 394) | 0.0007 | 0.150 |
| Community | Front-End | 9.80 (2, 457) | 0.0010 | 0.120 |
| OpenSource | AI/ML | 8.70 (2, 727) | 0.0030 | 0.110 |
| Mentorship | Back-End | 7.20 (2, 461) | 0.0050 | 0.090 |
| OnlineCourses | Mobile | 6.50 (2, 676) | 0.0080 | 0.080 |
| Documentation | AI/ML | 5.80 (2, 356) | 0.0100 | 0.070 |
| OpenSource | Cloud/DevOps | 5.20 (2, 469) | 0.0150 | 0.060 |
| Community | Back-End | 4.80 (2, 344) | 0.0200 | 0.060 |
| Books | Front-End | 4.30 (2, 263) | 0.0300 | 0.050 |
| FormalEducation | Mobile | 4.10 (2, 542) | 0.0400 | 0.050 |
Table Z. Analysis of variance results showing significant differences in learning method effectiveness across career stages. Only results with p < 0.05 are shown. η² represents effect size.
| Career Stage | Skill Domain | Learning Method | Mean Score | 95% CI Lower | 95% CI Upper |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Junior | AI/ML | OnlineCourses | 7.60 | 7.49 | 7.71 |
| Junior | AI/ML | Documentation | 6.80 | 6.68 | 6.92 |
| Junior | AI/ML | Community | 6.20 | 6.09 | 6.31 |
| Junior | Cloud/DevOps | Documentation | 6.50 | 6.40 | 6.60 |
| Junior | Cloud/DevOps | Mentorship | 6.20 | 6.10 | 6.30 |
| Junior | Cloud/DevOps | Community | 5.90 | 5.81 | 5.99 |
| Junior | Front-End | Community | 7.30 | 7.21 | 7.39 |
| Junior | Front-End | OpenSource | 7.00 | 6.92 | 7.08 |
| Junior | Front-End | OnlineCourses | 6.50 | 6.39 | 6.61 |
| Junior | Back-End | FormalEducation | 6.80 | 6.74 | 6.86 |
| Junior | Back-End | Mentorship | 6.50 | 6.42 | 6.58 |
| Junior | Back-End | Books | 5.80 | 5.72 | 5.88 |
| Junior | Mobile | OnlineCourses | 6.90 | 6.83 | 6.97 |
| Junior | Mobile | Community | 6.20 | 6.08 | 6.32 |
| Junior | Mobile | Documentation | 5.70 | 5.58 | 5.82 |
Appendix A. Bootstrap 95% confidence intervals for the effectiveness scores of the top three learning methods in each career stage and skill domain combination.