There are two popular opinions about being a software developer. One is that it is really easy and developers get paid for sitting and doing nothing all day. And the second one is that developing software is extremely hard and is definitely not for everyone – complicated codebases. Bare-bones specifications. Tight deadlines and many more challenges. Today our dear ProAlpha team developer Andrėjus shares his opinion about what It’s really like to be a software developer in 2020.
Lithuania has been experiencing a golden age in the IT sector for the last couple of years. That brought a huge demand of IT professionals, we are still experiencing a demand for developers but it has slowed down a little. It is easy to predict that soon enough supply and demand will reach an equilibrium.
On that note, developers are highly sought after, especially the experienced ones. To cope with such a huge demand, we have a lot of entry-level developers entering the job market. Some companies, in dire need of good, long term employees, take these young developers and raise them to be loyal and productive members of a team. The competition for such openings is huge too. As time goes by, requirements for entry levels are rising too, so young developers have to educate themselves more.
In my opinion, as the supply and demand reach equilibrium, we will have higher standards for entry levels, but we will also have more companies willing to take up the task of raising a developer.
Well, if it was a piece of advice for my younger self, I would say: Whatever you know now – is not enough. Get back to the books and learn more, do more.
Hands down the most important skill for a software developer is patience. While you`re developing an app, a game, a website or something ground-breaking, you are going to encounter hard times. Bugs are a recurring and ever returning problem that every developer out there faces. It doesn`t matter if you are a junior, a senior or already one of the big guys (software engineers, IT architect’s and etc.), patience is a virtue and it helps to try again and again and again, until, you find the right solution to the problem at hand.
In my opinion, it takes a specific kind of person to reach that level. You would need an analytical mind, a patient demeanor, a willingness to never stop learning throughout your career, have an eye for innovation.
A senior developer is also a good mentor that helps his team to grow and improve over time, by being a hands-on team member.
Last but not least a senior developer is an expert on google.
Yes.
If by doing nothing you mean:
Marketing specialist
