Computer Software

“There is more to know for career advancement rather than focusing on codes and its challenges to become a successful developer”.

A developer is the one who creates software application by writing, debugging and executing the source code. He may be also referred as the computer programmer, software developer, software coder, engineer, or the programmer.

The programs created by him is bound to help the business to become more efficient and also provide a better service.

If we consider the field expertise, generally, a developer carries a relevant bachelors/masters degree in fields like information technology, programming, computer science, or other IT related studies.

A self-motivated professional possess a dynamic experience on key programming languages like C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, Php, Linux, Python, Smalltalk, UNIX, HTTP, XML, and other software testing tools.   

In brief, it is agreed that a developer’s main focus lies in the coding and its related challenges. Still, coding, coding, and nothing but coding will not make a successful developer. It demands lateral knowledge and capability from a multitude of similar and ancillary disciplines.

Let us investigate further, and know how one can become a successful developer.

Understanding Codes as a Business Language

The successful developers understand the company work at the business level. They are able to translate the business language to the technology and the other way round. The code’s contribution must be targeted to the user or the customer and not the repository.

An overview of the goals, objectives, and impact of the project helps to code better. And it is true that codes drive the business.

And, mention not to say, necessary skills for coding like the programming, backend, non-technical, functional programming skills, and, etc., are the part of the market scenario.

Logical Thought:

A logical mindset, knowledge of statistics/mathematics, algorithms, attention to details is appreciated and anticipated by the employer. It is a surprising factor that programming is about thinking and not writing codes. One function one purpose thumb rule has to be followed so that anyone or the developer himself when come back to read, it is easier to follow.

In this scenario, personal research and education are highly recommended. A strong developer is one who is logical and implements a methodological approach to resolve an issue[s].

Discipline is NOT the Other Part, but The Part:

A Disciplined developer has the following qualities:

• Listens first and then speaks.
• Admits and acknowledges the unknown part.
• Aware of the technical debt when speed matters.
• Joins the code review session and embrace processes.
• Acknowledge the focused time for development.
• Ability to focus on the shared goal of a project.
• Research to solve a hard problem.
• Alert about ‘ego’ that turns a programming problem as a productivity drain.
• Ready to take online help to solve the problem rather than copy-paste a code.
• Understands that development is a continuous learning and none is a master but an expertise.
• Acknowledges that learning does not stop and is open to learning.
• Deliberately is ready to stretch the boundary of skills.

Marketing is a part of Success:

A few of the marketing tips to become a successful developer are jotted down below.

• Setting up a blog and writing regularly is highly appreciated.
• Though there are developers who have not seen a day unemployed, it is recommended to go open source.
• Change of job every six months or staying in the same job for more than six-seven years is not recommended.
• Understand the market trend and update programming skills accordingly.
• Able to write documentation or presentation.
• Command a high salary by being able to give the presentation in public.
• Recommended to learn more than one language instead of being a narrowly focused expert.
• Use the tools to solve coding problems.

Security:

The organizations are adopting the cloud, big data, machine learning tools, and other feasible solutions. This calls for security, compliance, and governance for a proper and secure administration. At this stage, the developers need to safeguard their codes. They are expected to possess knowledge in business intelligence, analytics, and other solutions.

Understanding Different Types of Development:

Moving further, there are different types of development. Depending on the interest, one can take up the career in various development fields like the Web Development, Mobile, Desktop, Games, Embedded Systems, Cloud, Automation, and more.

1. Web Developer: We find several web development roles such as the Full stack developer; Front-end developer; Back-end developer; UI developer and more.

Furthering the specialization, they are specified as eCommerce developer. Based on different eCommerce platforms/programming language, they may be called as Magento developer, PHP developer, WordPress developer, PrestaShop developer, Java developer, HTML developer, Drupal developer, and, the list goes on.   

2. Mobile app developer: Working on the different operating system, they are called as the iOS app developer, Android app developer, Augmented Virtuality- AR app developer, Windows app developer, Virtual Reality- VR apps developer, and more as specified to the field.

3. Desktop Developer: Desktop development involves the user experience part of the solutions. This implies the guidance level provided for developing client-side applications, web applications, rich internet applications, or the mobile device applications. The developer is mainly involved in creating composite desktop and mobile applications, web client application development, offline-capable applications, and more.

4. Games developer: Game developers are specifically known as video game developers/designers. They are involved in creating varied aspects of the game that starts from concept ideation to story writing. It includes the programming and the coding as well.

5. Embedded System Developer: The main responsibilities of an embedded systems developer include designing and implementing software for embedded systems and devices; design, develop, code, test and debug the system software, and so forth.

6. Cloud developer: The cloud developer is subject experts on architecture for team development, project management, software tools, and also the subsystems designer. They manage the data storage and data warehouse system.

7. Automation developer: They are the software developers who can design and write the programs for running tests on the existing or the new software. It forms an integral part of the software development cycle.

Career Path in Development:

The career path in development is schematically represented as below.

Junior Developer→Senior Developer→Lead Developer/Architect→Developer Manager/Project Manager/Project Manager→Senior Leadership like CTO, VP or the CEO.

It is noted that the finding and keeping up a job as a programmer is difficult. One can expect a peak and also an inevitable decline. In brief, the effective period of being a successful developer is limited unless and until there are self-promotion and self-learning.

Mention not to say, the developers must understand the possible slip in their career role on a long-term basis, and actively climb up the ladder to stay ahead in the field.

Conclusion:

The Darwinian principle ‘Survival of the fittest’ holds good here too.

It is recommended to update oneself by learning more programming languages and possess non-technical skills as well to thrive in the industry. Self-promotion and self-learning is a necessity in this competitive world and one has to uplift oneself and stay on pace with the existing culture.

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Hi, I am a website designer. I used to convert psd into html and also use some basic Javascript for the functioning part. Now I want to work as a developer, so I want to know the scope of UI Development. What language should I need to focus on to get properly into development for the long term?

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First of all the role of a UI developer is that of a combination of a web designer and a web developer. The language skills required for a UI developer are front-end web development languages like HTML, CSS and JavaScript and modern application programming languages like JAVA, .NET, AJAX, XHTML and Ruby. The demand for UI/UX developers is increasing because every company is resorting to a digital presence for greater reach. Consequently, they need more and more UI/UX designers and developers to create their websites.

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Language to use: Any language that you are learning.

Interface: Web or Desktop

Function: Simple calculator (9 digits + symbol) with 1 Memory storage with possible function of + - * / 

Error Handling requirement: All invalid entries & calculations to be gracefully handled

Client: The client is an experienced computer user. We therefore assume that users will have basic knowledge of using the mouse and keyboard

Data Input: We assume that data input will occur only via the keyboard and the mouse.

Output: All output will appear in a text display area similar to a calculator’s LCD screen. 

Output Event: Clicking a button representing an operation causes the display area to be updated. Results will be presented to at most 7 decimal places accuracy.

Operation: The application will present a visual keypad where one digit at a time can be added to the display by using the mouse to select one of the digit buttons. An optional negative sign can be entered before any digits have been entered; thereafter, the negative button will be ignored. As long as an operation has not been requested, digits will be added to the righthand side of the current number. This number will be displayed in the display area as it is composed. Number entry restarts after any arithmetic operation, result display, value storage, or clear operation is requested.

Operations are represented by buttons on the calculator which specify the arithmetic operation to perform or the storage of a value for future recall. In general, the entry of a number is terminated by clicking on one of the operation buttons.

Display: The display result operation is requested by clicking on the “=” key. If a value has been “remembered” by requesting one of the arithmetic operations, then the remembered value is combined according to the requested operation with the value currently in the display. The display is updated with the new value, and the calculator is made ready for the entry of the next number.

Clear: Clicking on the “Clear” button erases any value that appears in the display area and resets number entry. Clear does not affect the “remembered” value or the operation that has been requested.

Appereance: The interface of the calculator should be as close to the appearance and operation of a physical calculator as possible. The appearance of the application on the two platforms should be a close to identical as possible.

Testing: Include all the possible test cases along with the documentation (steps & results) as a part of output.

In short, it should be fool-proof, should not crash in any way possible, should provide all valid error messages, and result as per the rounded figures possible for a 9 digit calculator.

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Hi, I am working as a web designer and want to work as UI developer. So what should I have to learn initially? And learning Angular Js would be a good option? read less

A lot of students (count me as well) in their final year of IT course are confused and overwhelmed about their Project development. Final Year IT Projects are a crucial milestone in every IT students educational phase. If project development is tackled in a unorganized fashion, it can mess up your entire final year score (as final year project have a big share of marks and affect your overall score).

You must have heard about Project Development Phases in Software engineering. Well, it does have a lot of importance in your own student project development so make sure you take that subject seriously.

Here are typical Software development phases:

• Requirement Gathering Phase.
• Analysis Phase.
• Design Phase.
• Coding Phase.
• Testing Phase.
• Implementation & Maintenance Phase.

I will be explaining you the importance and meaning of all these phases in terms of student project’s point of view and how should a typical IT student look at these phases for his/her project development:

• Requirement Gathering Phase:
  • This is usually the first initial phase of your project development so it is very important to go ahead with this step carefully. What this phase states from a students point of view is that you need to decide on a project topic. 
  • Project topic selection can itself be tricky and the best way to tackle this is to ask yourself will your software, web-application help solve peoples problems (after all the very important mantra of software development to remember is customer is the KING).
  • Once you select a project topic you need to check of similar projects in the practical world and check on their success and feasibility.
  • If your topic doesn’t seem to solve real practical problem, chances are your project won’t be of any relevance.
  • Talk to people interested in software solutions and find out their technical problems (take a survey) and maybe you might find your desired project topic.

• Analysis Phase:
  • Once Finalizing of your project topic is done, you need to validate it ie check for various feasibility parameters.
  • First of all check whether the project is actually implementable. A lot of times students have big ideas which in the end prove to be useless in terms of practical usage (this is usually because of lack of experience so don’t get offended students).
  • Second important factor to check is which technology to be used to develop the project. Select the one which you are comfortable with since its your first project you need not learn something entirely new and then fall short of time. Usually students find ASP.NET, C#.NET better over conventional JAVA technology but that is all personal choices. Bottom line select the one that you are comfortable with.
  • Time constraint is also important to check on. Usually this parameter is hard to predict on since it is your first time however it is important that you plot down a rough timeline of your entire project development and strictly follow it. You don’t want to submit your project late for sure after so much hardwork right!
  • Generally this phase ends by a Project Synopsis where you create a soft-copy of your project analysis.
    

Students who go ahead with the first 2 phases in a proper organized manner are more likely to get their projects working successfully and more importantly with high efficiency of management.

• Design Phase:
  • This Phase is many a times overlooked by students and trust me they find it difficult to go ahead with the actual coding of the projects.
  • The reason is, when you have a rough design, model, prototype in front of you, it is easy to code the same. 
  • When you plot your visual ideas and make rough designs it can also help with finding out some design flaws and errors which in future could be more troublesome to solve after you have actually coded for the same.
• Coding Phase:
  • Well This phase requires the least explanation I believe although you need to know 2 very important tip here:
    
    • First: When coding always use comments and proper indentation (i know students usually don’t since i as a student didn’t do it).
    • Second: After completing one module try and run it instead of coding the next module or entire project.

• Testing Phase:
  • This phase is also very important in real life situations as well as for students. Why so?
  • What if you project doesn’t work during the final project presentation just because you had to show it on college computer system?
  • So make sure you run your project in 2 or 3 different environments.
  • Specially for Android projects, check the application at least on 2-3 different versions of androids with different screen resolutions.
  • Do not test your project all by yourself. Always ask teachers, guides to do a second round of testing, maybe they’ll spot some bugs which you couldn’t and yes mist likely they will.
  • If its a live project let the client test it as well.

• Implementation & Maintenance Phase:
  • This phase is where you actually run the project. 
  • Maintenance is usually not to be worried from students point of view, however if project is going to have huge database load it is necessary to check on performance regularly till your final project presentation to make sure it doesn’t crash at the crucial moment.

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10 Essential SQL Tips for Developers:

SQL is yet another essential language for developers wishing to create data-driven websites. However, many developers are unfamiliar with various aspects of SQL; so in this article, we'll analyze ten essential tips.

1. Use The Right Language:

Web developers often have a plethora of languages at their disposal. It is crucial for developers to use the proper language for the job.

2. Secure Your Code:

Databases store valuable information. Because of this fact, databases are often prime targets for attack. Many developers are unaware that their code has critical security vulnerabilities, which is a very scary fact not only for clients, but also for you. Currently, developers can be held legally accountable if their own personal negligence results in a database security risk that is then exploited.

 How Can You Write Secure Code?

The solution is often DBMS specific; that is, it varies between MySQL, Oracle or SQL Server. In PHP with MySQL, for example, it is usual to escape parameters using the function mysql_real_escape_string before sending the SQL query. Alternatively, you can utilize prepared statements to "prepare" your queries. Make it your mission to understand the DBMS with which you are working and the inherent security issues.

SQL injection isn't the only security vulnerability for databases and developers to worry about, however, it is one of the most common methods of attack. It is important to test your code and be familiar with the latest security issues for your DBMS in order to protect against attacks. 

3. Understand Joins:

Single table SQL select statements are rather easy to write. However, business requirements often dictate that more complex queries must be written. For example, "find all orders for each customer, and display the products for each order". Now, in this particular situation, it would be likely that there is a customer table, an order table, and an order_line table (the last would be to resolve a possible many-to-many record relationship). For those who are slightly more familiar with SQL, it is readily apparent that a table join, actually, two table joins will be required for this query. Let's look at some sample code.

4. Know Your Data Types:

In SQL, typically each table column has an associated data type. Text, Integer, VarChar, Date, and more, are typically available types for developers to choose from. 

5. Write Compliant Code:

All programming languages have standards which web developers should be aware, and SQL isn't any different. SQL was standardized by ANSI and then ISO, with new revisions to the language being occasionally submitted. The latest revision is SQL:2008, although the most important revision that developers should be aware of is SQL:1999. The 1999 revision introduced recursive queries, triggers, support for PL/SQL and T-SQL, and a few newer features. It also defined that the JOIN statements be done in the FROM clause, as opposed to the WHERE clause.

6. Normalize Your Data:

Database normalization is a technique to organize the contents of databases. Without normalization, database systems can be inaccurate, slow, and inefficient. The community of database professionals developed a series of guidelines for the normalization of databases. Each 'level' of normalization is referred to as a form, and there are 5 forms, total. First normal form is the lowest level of normalization, up to fifth normal form, which is the highest level of normalization.

First Normal Form (1NF): The most basic level of data normalization, first normal form requires the elimination of all duplicate columns in a table, and also requires the creation of separate tables for related data, and identification of each table with a primary key attribute.

Second Normal Form (2NF): Meets all the requirements of first normal form, and creates relationships between tables using foreign keys.

Third Normal Form (3NF): Meets all the requirements of second and first normal forms, and removes all columns that are not dependent upon the primary key. Third normal form also removes all derived attributes, such as age.

Fourth Normal Form (4NF): Fourth normal form adds one additional requirement, which is the removal of any multi-valued dependencies in relationships.

Fifth Normal Form (5NF): Fifth normal form is a rarer form of normalization, in which case join dependencies are implied by candidate keys (possibly primary key values).

The Benefits of Normalization:

Now, without venturing too far into database theory, let's simply focus on the benefits of normalization. As the data progresses through the normalization forms, it becomes cleaner, better organized, and faster. Now, with a small database that has only 5 tables and 100 rows of data, this won't be readily apparent. However, as the database grows, the effects of normalization will become much more apparent with regards to speed and maintaining data integrity. However, there are some situations in which normalization doesn't make sense, such as when normalizing the data will create excessively complex queries required to return the data.

7. Fully Qualify Your Database Object Names:

Now, this is a commonly ignored point; in fact, all the sample code I've demonstrated in this tutorial has essentially violated this tip. In terms of database development, a fully qualified object name looks as follows: DATABASE.schema.TABLE. Now, let's look at why fully qualified names are important, and in what situations they are necessary. The purpose of a fully qualified object name is to eliminate ambiguity. Beginning developers rarely have access to multiple databases and schemas, which complicates the issues in the future. When a given user has access to multiple databases, multiple schemas, and the tables therein, it becomes crucial to directly specify what the user is attempting to access. If you have an employee table, your boss has an employee table, and the schema that your web application is running on has an employee table, which are you really attempting to access? 

8. Understand Indexing:

A database index is a data structure that improves the speed of operations on a database table. Indexes can be created using one or more columns of a database table, providing the basis for both rapid random look ups and efficient access of ordered records. Indexing is incredibly important when working with large tables, however, occasionally smaller tables should be indexed, if they are expected to grow. Small tables that will remain small, however, should not be indexed (for example, if your book is 1 page, does it make sense to turn to the index?)

9. Properly Use Database Permissions:

When working with a database that has multiple users, it is important to properly handle various database permissions. Obviously, most databases have an administrator user, but does it always make sense to run your queries as the administrator? Additionally, would you want to provide all your junior developers and users with your administrator credentials in order to write their queries? Most likely not. The various possible permissions for your database depend on your DBMS, but there are common themes between them.

10. Know Your DBMS Limitations:

Databases are powerful tools, however, they aren't without limitations. Oracle, SQL Server, and MySQL all have unique limitations on things such as maximum database sizes, maximum number of tables, and others. Many developers unknowingly choose a DBMS solution for their project without planning or considering the later requirements of their database.

Conclusion:

In this article, we reviewed 10 essential tips for SQL developers. However, there are many other useful SQL techniques that could be mentioned; so please leave your thoughts in the comments, whether you think this article covered all the essential topics, or you think one was left out. Keep developing, and remember, the code you write supports the internet infrastructure, and without you, the internet would not be as successful as it is.

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I am a BTech graduate working in a BPO. I am not very good with programming but I want to leave BPO and get a good job now. Since I am a graduate in BTech(IT) I think I will have to look for Software jobs (otherwise I would be forced to join a bank or other govt jobs by the family, which I don't like). I am confused between Software testing and development. Testing doesn't give much career growth but doesn't require much coding abilities (good for me). Some asked me to learn Android development. I am totally confused and I don't have much time left. Please help me. read less

Hi Meenu Yes you are right! Working in the job which is not motivating you may not be the purpose of your life. If you are not interested in software but if you are interested in solving the business problems of a company with your technical skills you can take Business Analytics and Data science as your career prospective. This area gives you ample oppurtunities for growth as well as higher pay package. Learn some tools like R Python and take the right step. Wish you all the very Best. read less

Where will I get best IT course? I'm 24 year and completed my graduation from management in 2012. After completing my graduation, I have one year experience in basic computer software like SAP (I run SAP in a logistic company) now I have no job and I want to do a software course for my future but I am not sure which course would be best for me. I want a good course to get a job in MNC with good salary. Please advice. read less