Mobile development is a top priority for developers in 2012, according to a new report by Zend Technologies. Zend surveyed over 3,000 developers about what they are expecting to do this year. (If you’re not familiar with them, Zend is the leading provider of solutions to build and deploy business-critical web applications using PHP.)

Also high on the agenda is API production, social media integration, and cloud-based development.

When asked about career and skills development priorities for 2012, some 75 percent of all developers ranked next-generation UI development as a top priority. Sixty-seven percent of the developers want to hone their app development skills on mobile platforms, and 46 percent are looking to gain expertise in cloud development. (Of those going that route, 30 percent named Amazon Web Services as their public cloud of choice; 28 percent did not yet know which cloud they would use; 10 percent named Rackspace; and 6 percent cited Microsoft Azure. “Other” public clouds came in at 5 percent, and IBM Smart Cloud scored 3 percent.

Forty-four percent of those polled mentioned proficiency in big data/analytics as another top priority.

To see the full report, click here.