17 Feb 2021
Vincent Martinot
Choosing The Right Career Path In Software Development: App Developer vs Web Developer
Every software developer remains excited with their career in the beginning, and that is when they want to learn so many things at once. This is also the time of great perplexity. Should they choose game development or they should embrace mobile app development or should they become an expert enterprise web developer? What career path they should choose and what will give them maximum benefits in terms of revenue and long term career objectives?
If you are going through the same level of confusion, here we are to guide you by explaining the top career choices to the disposal of a software developer.
Key considerations for choosing the right career path
When you need to choose the ideal career path as a software developer, you need to go through the following considerations.
- What languages and technology stacks you need to learn
- The learning curve involved with the technology
- Median salary or remuneration for each career option
- Future growth prospects
- Work environment and work stress
- Your personal strengths and preferences.
The above-mentioned considerations will help you to decide on the right career choice that is just right for you. Based on these considerations, you can still have your footing that suits two different career paths simultaneously. It is not rare to find an expert with both web development and app development skills. There are expert frontend developers with equal skills with some backend development technologies.
These opportunities apart, you should always know the exact career opportunities and prospects offered by each path. Let's explain them one by one.
Web Development
Web development is the most common development expertise out there. Web developers are employed by marketing agencies, dedicated development companies catering to enterprise needs and by large companies needing their own web developers. Web developers with considerable experience and skills can also work as freelance specialists.
Now coming to the skills web developers need, they need expertise on all or any of the three categories, such as front-end development, backend development and full-stack development.
- Front End Web Development: Front end web developers mainly focus on technologies and skills required to build the user interface and user experience of a website. Frontend developers need to have a solid command over skills such as HTML, JavaScript, CSS and some leading JavaScript frameworks.
- Back End Web Development: Back end development focuses on the server-side technologies corresponding to server communications, databases, middleware, etc. Back end developers create the chemistry of various server-side functions, data architecture, APIs that ultimately run a website. Some of the key technologies that backend developers need to learn to include JavaScript, Java, Node.js, PHP, Python, Ruby on Rails, and Perl.
- Full-Stack Web Development: Full-stack web development combining both front and back end development helps a project to complete a web project with just one developer specialised in both. This is why full-stack developers experience high demand, especially for small web projects with budget constraints. It is needless to say that full-stack developers need to be specialised in the frontend, backend, middleware and database technologies.
As many web development projects are now embracing Progressive Web Apps (PWA) to mitigate the differences between web and mobile apps, having strong command on building PWAs can give you an additional career advantage.
Mobile app developers
Since mobile apps have already penetrated every walk of life, app developers experience huge demand. As a mobile app developer, your career opportunities can be tremendous if you focus on the right technologies and skills.
You can be an expert iOS app developer skilled with Swift and Objective-C language, or you can be an expert Android app developer skilled with Java or Kotlin programming languages. As a third and most lucrative option, you can also be a cross-platform app developer skilled with advanced technologies such as React Native, Flutter or Kotlin Multiplatform.
Having strong command on the respective platforms and platform-specific tools and technologies is a must for becoming an expert mobile app developer. Mobile app developers also need to sharpen their skills with the latest technologies such as AR and VR, artificial intelligence, chatbots, etc., for different niche development requirements.
Other major career options for the developers
Apart from web development and mobile app development, software developers can also choose from a wide range of lucrative career options. Let's have a quick look at these career options.
Systems analysts
Systems analysts are responsible for predicting and forecasting the upcoming changes on the technology front that a company needs to update. With these updates corresponding to changes, a company can remain prepared and competitive.
Network Architect
Network architects basically create the layout of complicated digital systems and multifaceted cloud infrastructure in large business environments. Thanks to the network layout and infrastructure created by the company's IT department becomes more efficient.
Java developer
Java developers are specialists in Java programming language and use their Java programming skills to develop apps for a multitude of business niches. Experienced Java developers still face high demand because of their expertise in coding software applications and testing programs.
PHP developer
PHP is one of the most popular web languages used in leading CMS systems such as WordPress and a multitude of websites across the niches. Expert PHP developers experience high demand because of their skills in creating new features and functionalities for the website as well as enterprise software solutions.
Python developer
Python is a leading programming language used for financial, administrative and several other app niches involving complex functions. Python developers also experience high demands because of the capabilities to build apps with machine learning, cloud and data mining technologies.
Network administrator
These professionals responsible for managing complex network systems experience really high demand. As security vulnerabilities are constantly increasing, network administrators are sought after by organisations to secure network systems from all kinds of hacking and intrusion efforts.
Conclusion
All these career paths offer a brief idea of where the developers can find the best opportunities at present and the time to come. As the technology world is continuing to encounter new approaches and changes, the career scores and opportunities are also in constant flux.