Image of Stack Overflow

Stack Overflow

Organization

A question-and-answer website for programmers that has licensed its data to Google for training the Gemini AI model.


First Mentioned

1/3/2026, 4:16:33 AM

Last Updated

1/3/2026, 4:22:01 AM

Research Retrieved

1/3/2026, 4:22:01 AM

Summary

Stack Overflow is a leading question-and-answer platform for computer programmers, established in 2008 by Jeff Atwood and Joel Spolsky as a more accessible alternative to platforms like Experts-Exchange. Serving as the flagship site of the Stack Exchange Network, it employs gamification through reputation points and badges to curate technical knowledge. In June 2021, the organization was acquired by the Dutch conglomerate Prosus for $1.8 billion. By June 2025, the site had amassed over 29 million registered users and tens of millions of posts, solidifying its role as a primary reference for developers. Recently, the company has pivoted towards the AI era by licensing its vast repository of technical data to companies like Google for model training and rebranding its enterprise services as Stack Internal.

Referenced in 1 Document
Research Data
Extracted Attributes
  • Database

    Microsoft SQL Server

  • Founders

    Jeff Atwood, Joel Spolsky

  • Products

    Stack Internal, Stack Data Licensing, Stack Ads

  • Framework

    ASP.NET MVC

  • Total Answers

    36 million (as of 2025-06)

  • Inception Date

    2008-09-15

  • Total Questions

    24 million (as of 2025-06)

  • Registered Users

    29 million (as of 2025-06)

  • Acquisition Price

    $1.8 billion

  • Programming Language

    C#

Timeline
  • Stack Overflow is launched by Jeff Atwood and Joel Spolsky as an open Q&A alternative for programmers. (Source: Wikidata)

    2008-09-15

  • The website is acquired by the Netherlands-based conglomerate Prosus for $1.8 billion. (Source: Wikipedia)

    2021-06-02

  • Stack Overflow enters into a data licensing agreement with Google to provide training data for AI models like Gemini. (Source: dc653a59-1711-437d-95cf-b5b07878217e)

    2024-02-01

  • Platform reaches milestones of 29 million registered users, 24 million questions, and 36 million answers. (Source: Wikipedia)

    2025-06-01

  • Stack Overflow for Teams is rebranded and released as Stack Internal, an enterprise knowledge platform for the AI era. (Source: Web Search Results)

    2025-08-01

  • The company previews a site redesign and introduces new voting mechanisms. (Source: Web Search Results)

    2025-11-01

Stack Overflow

Stack Overflow is a question-and-answer website for computer programmers. Created in 2008 by Jeff Atwood and Joel Spolsky, it is the flagship site of the Stack Exchange Network. Stack Overflow features questions and answers on certain computer programming topics, and was created to be a more open alternative to earlier question-and-answer websites such as Experts-Exchange. The website was sold to Prosus, a Netherlands-based consumer-internet conglomerate, on 2 June 2021 for $1.8 billion. Stack Overflow serves as a platform for users to ask and answer questions, and, through membership and active participation, to vote questions and answers up or down similar to Reddit and edit questions and answers in a fashion similar to a wiki. Users of the website can earn reputation points and "badges"; for example, a person is awarded 10 reputation points for receiving an "up" vote on a question or an answer to a question, and can receive badges for their valued contributions, which represents a gamification of the traditional Q&A website. Users unlock new privileges with an increase in reputation like the ability to vote, comment, and even edit other people's posts. As of June 2025, Stack Overflow has over 29 million registered users, and has received over 24 million questions and 36 million answers. The site and similar programming question-and-answer sites have globally mostly replaced programming books for day-to-day programming reference in the 2000s, and today are an important part of computer programming. Based on the type of tags assigned to questions, the top eight most-discussed topics on the site are JavaScript, Java, C#, PHP, Android, Python, jQuery, and HTML.

Web Search Results
  • Stack Overflow

    Stack Overflow is a question-and-answer website for computer programmers. Created in 2008 by Jeff Atwood and Joel Spolsky, it is the flagship site of the Stack Exchange Network. Stack Overflow features questions and answers on certain computer programming topics, and was created to be a more open alternative to earlier question-and-answer websites such as Experts-Exchange. The website was sold to Prosus, a Netherlands-based consumer-internet conglomerate, on 2 June 2021 for $1.8 billion. [...] Stack Overflow serves as a platform for users to ask and answer questions, and, through membership and active participation, to vote questions and answers up or down similar to Reddit and edit questions and answers in a fashion similar to a wiki. Users of the website can earn reputation points and "badges"; for example, a person is awarded 10 reputation points for receiving an "up" vote on a question or an answer to a question, and can receive badges for their valued contributions, which [...] Stack Overflow is written in C# "C Sharp (programming language)") using the ASP.NET MVC (Model–View–Controller) framework, and Microsoft SQL Server for the database and the Dapper object-relational mapper used for data access. Unregistered users have access to most of the site's functionality, while users who sign in can gain access to more functionality, such as asking or answering a question, establishing a profile and being able to earn reputation to allow functionality like editing

  • The Stack Overflow Blog - Stack Overflow

    Stack Overflow Business Stack Internal: the knowledge intelligence layer that powers enterprise AI.Stack Data Licensing: decades of verified, technical knowledge to boost AI performance and trust.Stack Ads: engage developers where it matters — in their daily workflow. From the Network # Where does the trouble older CD drives have reading newer burned discs come from? [...] Today at Microsoft Ignite, we’re showcasing the next step in our evolution: Stack Overflow for Teams is now Stack Internal. It’s the next phase of our enterprise knowledge platform, reimagined for the AI era. # Containers are easy—moving your legacy system off your VM is not [...] # 2025.8 release introduces Stack Overflow Internal: The next generation of enterprise knowledge intelligence Today, we’re excited to introduce Stack Overflow Internal—the next evolution of our enterprise platform and the future of Stack Overflow for Teams. # What’s new at Stack Overflow: November 2025 From a new kind of vote to a preview of the upcoming redesign, check out what’s been happening at Stack Overflow over the past month. Latest articles

  • The Stack Overflow Blog - Stack Overflow

    # Where does the trouble older CD drives have reading newer burned discs come from? Why doesn't this older thing work perfectly with a newer thing that didn't exist when the older thing was created? # What does it mean for a manuscript to be "technically sound"? Is it technically sound to say that technically sound means that something's technically correct? # Why does mathematical notation and terminology stop being standard after calculus? [...] Today at Microsoft Ignite, we’re showcasing the next step in our evolution: Stack Overflow for Teams is now Stack Internal. It’s the next phase of our enterprise knowledge platform, reimagined for the AI era. # The most dangerous shortcuts in software [...] # 2025.8 release introduces Stack Overflow Internal: The next generation of enterprise knowledge intelligence Today, we’re excited to introduce Stack Overflow Internal—the next evolution of our enterprise platform and the future of Stack Overflow for Teams. # What’s new at Stack Overflow: November 2025 From a new kind of vote to a preview of the upcoming redesign, check out what’s been happening at Stack Overflow over the past month.

  • Stack Overflow Internal customers and case studies

    Technology-driven trading firm IMC leveraged Stack Overflow to share knowledge across distributed, global offices.Health & wellness Flex uses Stack Internal to capture historical context and finally rid themselves of inconsistent and disorganized documentation.Finance Machine learning company Primer used Stack Internal to fill knowledge gaps and scale institutional knowledge at pace with their growing team.Technology

  • Stack Overflow: Newest Questions

    Stack Overflow 1. About 3. For Teams 1. Stack Internal Implement a knowledge platform layer to power your enterprise and AI tools. 2. Stack Data Licensing Get access to top-class technical expertise with trusted & attributed content. 3. Stack Ads Connect your brand to the world’s most trusted technologist communities. 4. Releases Keep up-to-date on features we add to Stack Overflow and Stack Internal. 5. About the company Visit the blog ##### Collectives™ on Stack Overflow [...] Predicting particle diffraction pattern (2D scenario) through Schrödinger Equation Who were the Vulcan's first contact species? Images of angels (cherubim) over the Ark of the Covenant Why Does Acts Appear to Treat the "Judaizers" More Kindly than Paul Does? (Acts 15, Galatians 1) Why is mathematics able to produce such persuasive, rigorous proofs? What does this Australian road sign mean? [...] The Overflow Blog The most dangerous shortcuts in software A new worst coder has entered the chat: vibe coding without code knowledge Featured on Meta Native Ads coming soon to Stack Overflow and Stack Exchange A proposal for bringing back Community Promotion & Open Source Ads Modernizing curation: A proposal for The Workshop and The Archive Stack Overflow chat opening up to all users in January; Stack Exchange chat... Policy: Generative AI (e.g., ChatGPT) is banned

Location Data

Red Funnel Ferry vehicle overflow stack, Castle Street, Red Funnel Terminal vehicle marshalling yard, Osborne, East Cowes, Isle of Wight, England, PO32 6RB, United Kingdom

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Coordinates: 50.7578983, -1.2896718

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