Well, there wouldn't be that much of the difference because StackOverflow is just the most popular site for asking coding question, if it didn't exist there would a different one just as big, as long as the internet is open there will always be a site like that. A better question: "How many programmers would have been unsuccessful is the internet was not open to the public?"
StackOverflow is just the path of least resistance. There was a time when developers would just have framework or language books sitting around for reference.