Today, almost every company has an online presence; the internet has never been so important to commerce and trade. To become an online entity, companies need software developers to build and maintain their websites, apps and programs.
With their knowledge of programming languages, software developers devise and create digital products that underpin our lives online.
Albert Einstein is often falsely quoted as saying “It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.” It's an apt sentiment, especially amid the current furore surrounding ChatGPT. But we needn't worry ourselves unduly.
Instead, let's focus on gaining the skills we need to become competent software engineers or programmers. But what other skills do software developers need?
In this article, we'll look at what every aspiring developer needs to learn for a career in software development. Things like programming languages and coding. For example, did you know that JavaScript is the programming language most commonly required by employers?
We'll also discuss the intellectual skills that will help developers become better at their job and the soft skills needed to build a rapport with their team.
Mastering a Programming Language
It may seem a bit obvious, but software developers need programming skills. They should also know one or several programming languages. Programming languages are used to code programs, websites, and apps.
Much like learning a foreign language, you need to understand the vocabulary and the syntax of a programming language so that you can tell a computer what to do.
A developer can learn a programming language while earning a computer science degree. You could also learn programming languages while studying for a software engineering degree or shorter software development courses. Some developers teach themselves to code through online courses, tutorials and other resources.
The most popular programming languages include:
- HTML/CSS
- JavaScript
- PHP
- Ruby
- Java
- Swift
- C#, C, and C++
- Python
Versatility
To be a good software developer, you need to be versatile because development is a broad and complex field. You can specialise in video games, websites, AI, mobile apps, machine learning, etc., but you should know about every aspect of the job.
In just one project, you might be required to work on a system's front-end, back-end and integration, for example.
You may also have to work across different sectors as a developer. For instance, as someone who specialises in Artificial Intelligence (AI), you may end up working on video games or industrial machines.
Precision
When it comes to developing software, you need to be precise. You need to check your work regularly and test it for errors. You also need to be focused. If you’re not focused, your entire program or application could be affected as every step of the project will require precision to work.
No client will pay their software developer to spend hours debugging a program they wrote. So you need to be meticulous when programming and developing software solutions to avoid cost overruns.
Before getting into the field, you should find out all you can about software development.
Independence
You may have a software engineer on your team who can answer questions or provide guidance if you get stuck. But it's much more common for software developers to work on their own, without any technical support.
Indeed, these professionals are usually the firms' technical support.
This doesn’t mean that you need to know everything and can never make mistakes. It just means that you need to be resourceful when looking for solutions. You should build problem-solving skills to figure out where you may have gone wrong.
Even if you do have a senior team leader with more experience, they probably won’t want you bothering them with every little problem you encounter.
Freelance software developers need to be self-starters. It’s unlikely that there’ll be anyone else with software development skills looking over your shoulder. If you can’t debug systems on your own, you run the risk of losing customers.
Industry Expertise
A software developer needs to know what’s going on in their industry. You need to also be passionate about the latest developments. Not only do you need to be passionate about your field, but you also need to be up-to-date with everything that’s happening in this ever-changing industry.
If you’re just getting started in web development, you’ll probably want to study and research techniques and solutions even after you’ve finished your studies. Software development is a career that demands continuous learning.
Adaptability
Besides keeping up with the latest advances in your field, you’ll need to adapt to them. In IT, everything changes so fast that being out of the loop could see you being left behind. If you can’t offer your clients cutting-edge solutions to their software needs, they’ll look for somebody who can. In fields like cybersecurity, being up-to-date is essential because you can’t allow the risk of sensitive data being stolen.
Listening Skills
A software developer needs to listen carefully to their clients or employer. Developing a computer program is exacting work and it’s not always easy to change course further down the line. You need to listen to what your clients want and keep them in the loop as your work progresses.
In a lot of cases, a client mightn’t be very good at articulating what they want and even worse at expressing it in technical terms. This is why you need to be patient, attentive and ask the right questions to ensure you’ve understood what they’re after.
This can save you an awful lot of time on the project, too.
Communication Skills
You have to also be able to communicate with your clients. You’ll need to be able to talk to people both inside and outside of your industry. Clients will often underestimate how much work is involved in their project.
If you work in a company, you will need to explain how the project works in terms that management can understand. You also need to be patient as not everyone will be a whizz with technology.
Reactivity
In software development, you need to be able to quickly react to whatever comes your way. At times, you may need to find and fix a bug or error very quickly so a developer must be on their toes. This is especially true if you’re a freelancer.
You need to be able to quickly respond to your clients and offer solutions to their software or application problems.
Analytical Skills and Logic
When it comes to software development, you need to think carefully about every problem that presents itself. The more you know about software development, the easier this will be, but you still need an analytical mindset. You need to be able to take a step back to analyze programming problems.
Analysis and logic are important parts of creating software solutions. And for programming languages, logic is essential.
With a good understanding of logic, you’ll also be able to learn other programming languages more easily.
Creativity
Software development is more than knowing how to code. A software developer needs to think up creative solutions to client problems. Creativity is useful in finding solutions for a wide variety of different programming situations.
For project managers, creativity is even more important because they have to imagine what their clients can't put into words. In the same vein, programmers need creative artistic skills, especially if you’re doing web design or creating a user interface (UI). Creative design skills can also help you offer a more complete service to clients.
If you'd like to learn more about software engineering, web development, or computer programming, consider getting help from a private tutor on the Superprof website.
Superprof has plenty of coding and programming tutors around Australia and all over the world. They can help you hone your coding skills via face-to-face tutoring, online tutoring, or group tutorials.
Group tutorials are a great choice if you're on a budget because you can share the cost of the tutoring with other students. You won't get as much one-on-one tuition but you'll have other students to support you and learn with.
Face-to-face tutorials are between you and your tutor and can be tailored to exactly what and how you want to learn. Online tutorials fill the gap if you can't find any suitable tutors in your local area.
They're also great because the tutors tend to charge less than face-to-face tutors. Online tutors mightn't be great for some hands-on subjects but for academic subjects and skills like programming, they're excellent.
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