Whether full-stack, specializing in back or front-end, a
developer's job has many facets and requires technical skills to meet the needs
of companies. We interviewed three specialists and trainers from IFOCOP
centers, who presented us with the challenges of a rapidly growing profession
in a rapidly changing job market.
The development market is currently undergoing a profound
transformation. While business demand remains very strong, the skills sought
are becoming more scarce. "Choosing to develop is to seek the serenity of
full employment. The best quickly collapse under dozens of requests every
month," explains a web
design company in Pakistan.
More and more developers tend to go freelance to meet the
needs of businesses. They feel free to choose their projects. "This is the
modern developer's concept of life. Code to free yourself and live from your
choice of projects, propelled by a booming market due to companies' digital
transformation. Some are accompanied by an agent, on the model of agents of
sportspeople or artists.
The different facets of the developer profession
Two movements currently coexist within the profession. On
the one hand, full-stack developers (front and back-end) must act both on the
visible part of a site or application to improve the user experience and the invisible
part, making it work. "
On the other hand, the profession is experiencing a movement
of hyperspecialization with developers who have mastered technologies in high
demand. "A Python developer, for example, will find his place very quickly
in big data projects. We can also cite developers specializing in a particular
framework. "
Likewise, a Java developer should work in symbiosis with a
web developer because information systems are more and more interconnected.
This trend will accelerate in the years to come, accentuating the
complementarity of professions within companies.
The skills required for a career in web development
It is possible to learn to code in initial training or retraining.
Whether you are considering a career as a front-end, back-end, or DevOps
developer, certain skills are essential: mastery of command lines in a
terminal, development environments, management of decentralized versions with
Git, knowledge of fundamental networks that govern the web (HTTP (S), DNS, SSH,
etc.), but also HTML.
Once these prerequisites have been acquired, the developer
must learn the first language; JavaScript is an excellent choice. "It's
relatively easy to learn; it allows you to create web applications because
that's the language that is executed on the browser. It can be used both for
the front and the back to create full-stack applications with a single
language. "
If you want to develop modern front-end applications, it is
recommended to master one of the three most used libraries: React, Vue, or
Angular. Other languages are required for those wishing to specialize in
back-end development, such as Node.js, PHP, Python, Go… It is also advisable to
be interested in SQL databases (with MySQL, PostgreSQL, etc. .) and NoSQL
(MongoDB, Cassandra,…) if you plan to work on data storage.
"For DevOps, it will also be necessary to acquire
in-depth knowledge of Linux environments, automated tests, continuous
integration platforms (for example Jenkins), containers (Docker, Kubernetes)
and infrastructure management of cloud platforms (Azure, Amazon Web Services
and Google Cloud Platform)",
With the passage of companies into the "agile"
era, soft skills are the keys to tomorrow's profession. "With equal
competence, the art of communicating, of exchanging, of reformulating the need
for its project management, will make a good developer rise to the status of a
brilliant developer. These qualities will ensure his future towards taking on a
managerial role if he so desires".
From the expansion of IT teams to the specialization of developers
If companies' IT teams have never been so rich, they focus
on two main types of profiles: the specialized developer and the full-stack
developer. "The specialist developer will develop a particular skill in a
given technology. At the moment, Angular, React, or Vue profiles are
particularly sought after. For a developer with a solid foundation in
JavaScript, specializing in one of these libraries dedicated to user interfaces
is a relevant choice",
Large groups divide up tasks and positions. They recruit web
developers, software developers, and mobile developers. Each company has a
specific technological stack, with one or more front and one or more types of the
back. It is a whole technological panel on which the choices of hardware and
software architectures are based. This technological corpus will de facto
define the profile of the developers sought by specialization. A company, whose
foundations are based on the cloud, will position itself on API developers who
are very comfortable in an AWS or Google Cloud environment.
The importance of generalist profiles and soft skills
For a developer, technical specialization is not an
obligation because generalist profiles are always in demand. "Application
developments are very rarely done in isolation. Without being a specialist in a
particular technology, a developer can guide his project's development while
interacting effectively with other project managers. In this intro and
inter-project communication, a developer can highlight his soft skills without
technical specialization. Given the complexity of the projects, these qualities
are just as sought after as pure technical skills".
Developers mastering communication or skills in project
management can also turn to the tech lead or IT product leader professions. "These
functions are at the crossroads between team management, coaching, training for
beginners while creating code for those who wish to keep a minimum of technical
background. The tech lead ensures the teams' coordination, backward
compatibility of the code by his watch, and his experience by indicating the
necessary guidelines. And he intervenes on the code if necessary. All these
professions are part of the natural continuation of the profession of the developer.
Whether you choose to become a generalist, specialist
developer, or if you prefer to orient yourself towards one of these related
professions, the sector is full of opportunities for you.
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