Software Developer Job Description
Most Recent Research: 18 January, 2012
Job Description
Contribute to any aspect of the software development cycle including requirements gathering, design, implementation, testing and maintenance.
Tasks and Activities
- Develop or review software product definition and specifications.
- Develop or maintain programming, testing and design standards and specifications.
- Requirements gathering.
- Design solutions that comply to systems architecture.
- Coding and Implementation.
- Testing - including functional as well as user acceptance testing.
- Troubleshooting and bug identification.
- End User Training Documentation and Technical documentation.
Role at a glance
Skills, Knowledge & Experience
- Excellent written and oral communication skills.
- Excellent analytical skills.
- Ability to interpret high level technical designs.
- Gathering or translating business requirements.
- Intermediate to expert knowledge on software development methodologies.
- Intermediate to expert knowledge on specific programming or scripting languages. For example HTML, CSS, PHP, Javascript, Java, ASP.NET, C#.NET (Microsoft .NET Framework)
- Strong Application Design and Architecture knowledge and experience
- Experience with MySQL or other DBMS, SCADA an advantage
Organizational Position
This position will likely work within a team of developers reporting to the Systems Development Team Leader. This position may be required to communicate with non-technical clients or colleagues for the development of user requirements or systems handover or training.
Qualifications & Certifications
Many developers learn software programming languages and software methodologies at College or University. Professional certifications in certain languages vary according to the particular vendor. Some of the large vendors such as Microsoft, Oracle and Sun Microsystems provide certifications for developers.
Key Competencies
Team Working
Customer Consideration
Customer Interaction
Time management
Communications
Specific Technical Knowledge
Attributes of an Excellent Business Analyst
An excellent software developer communicates effectively with the client, architect or stakeholder to understand the nature of the software to be developed. The design and code are clear, concise and well documented and the functionality of the software is strongly aligned to the requirements and expectations of the client.
Attraction to the position and job retention strategies for employers
The skills to develop software may apeal to creative engineers.
Conflict may arise if relationships and requirements with clients or project managers are not carefully managed. Conflics may manifest in the form of unrealistic development time expectations or through misunderstandings about functionality. Employers may seek to provide support with the management of clients in order to reduce pressure on software developers. Business analysts may fulfill this role well.
What You Know
Software development methodologies
Expert knowledge of programming and/or scripting languages
Understanding of database schemas
What You Do
Develop or review software product definition and specifications
Develop standards
Gather requirements
Code and test
Troubleshoot
Write documentation
What You Are
A team player
Good with customers
An excellent communicator
A technical expert
Expected Pay Rate for a Software Developer
Salary Range: US$50K - US$130K per year
Page Research Level (PRL)
A key designed to give an indication of the depth of research used to produce the content of the page.
PRL Key Jobs researched
Level 0 =0-6
0-6Level 1 =6-29
6-29Level 2 =30-49
30-49 Level 3 =50-79
50-79Level 4 =80-99
80-99Level 5 =100+
100+Popularity Indicator (PI) %
A number presented as a percentage to show the number of employers that referenced or requested a paricular skill, experience or knowledge.
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