What’s the Differentiating Factor Between a Good Developer and a Novice Programmer?

There is a thin line between what programmers do and what developers do. Most technicians in the IT industry can perform basic coding tasks but not all of them can oversee the development of an app. Software development is a process, a system of consistent coding exercises involving more than one specialist that are meant to come up with an architecture and infrastructure that can be used ubiquitously across various devices.

Engineering a software takes more resources than programming in terms of time, skills and money. The coding process is often riddled by strenuous tasks involving software design, evaluation, deployment, and implementation. Through these stages, developers must ensure that the codes defining the app attributes are compatible with those of other programs that are to be integrated with the software being developed.

A programmer isn’t necessarily a software developer. If you’re an app designer, computer network architect or a system analyst, then you’re a programmer.

All Developers are Programmers, but not All Programmers are Developers

Programming involves writing unique codes to address client demands and a depth of algorithmic knowledge to handle tasks relating to a myriad of applications. It’s a coding process that targets specific demands – often on a small scale.

The interest of a programmer is the output whereas a developer is more concerned with coming up with solutions and reinventions for particular problems – often on a larger scale.

A clear difference between developer and a programmer can be that of SaaS platforms. The developer engineers the bulk and the trunk of SaaS while programmers can create small apps that can be integrated and used within the platform.

Most of us can’t draw a clear line between software programming and development – and it’s not our problem really – most elements defining them are interoperable and interchangeable. We’re going to look at some of the spheres that connect tasks performed by app developers and programmers.

Decision-Making Process

Developers have to make vital decisions regarding the use, suitability, and the operability of the software. They engineer their coding projects on a solution-based system. This implies that their major concern is creating problem-solving apps and writing tools that meet user needs.

Before setting their foot and applying their coding skills on a new project, developers typically assess the existing software and the possibility of combining the available programs to solve a problem. We need to look the software development in the business perspective where the user of the end product is the measure of success.

What problem I’m trying to solve?

How can I solve the problem without engaging in irksome programming tasks?

What are some of the existing apps that can solve this problem with additional writing?

Those are some of the questions that a developer must parse before embarking on a writing project.

To ensure success in every development process, developers follow SDLC (Software Development Life Cycle) which is characterized by six parameters: planning, defining, designing, building, testing and deployment. Normally, there are specialists for each and every one of the six processes. The first part involves analyzing the viability of the project and laying out the framework that will act as a guide through the entire process.

The second process is the parsing the requirements needed to ensure that the project is accomplished successfully. Each coding project is a trial-and-error process that involves writing, testing and rewriting until the desired outcome is realized. The SDLC process increases the chances of readability of a particular program but ideally, there is no benchmark for measuring this as different programs are coded differently.

A Good and Experienced Developer Can Easily Detect if a Code is Going to Be Readable or not

It’s nearly impossible to come up with a program that does not have errors. But it is the easiness of solving these errors popping up occasionally that determines the suitability and applicability of the app. The good software generates a message for every error thus guiding programmers on the underlying problem.

After writing a program, it is fundamental for a developer to test it through a variety of platforms and devices to make sure it is apt for most of the existing systems.

• The developed software must seam well with mobile devices, PCs, tablets and other devices. It should also have options that enable it to support a variety of popular operating systems.

• The software also should not use little resources of the devices installed on them – occupies less disk space, uses less power and consumes less processor memory. These are the decisions software developers should consider before delving into writing a project.

Cost-Effectiveness & Efficiency

While programming is concerned with designing tools that meet specific demands, development involves a consummate of programming techniques that involve designing a tool that can accommodate various applications. To meet these objectives, money must be used to make the entire process smooth. Running on high budgets doesn’t necessarily guarantee a successful IT project but it increases the chances of developing accurate and timely solutions for problems. Developers determine an estimate of the costs by apportioning each process in the SDLC a certain amount.

So, hiring experienced programmers may be expensive but the results are usually desirable. This is because developers are concerned with long-term goals by focusing on plugging in solutions where needed through the development process. Developers are on the business side of the design process often agglomerating aspects of financial resources and software usability in their coding process.

The efficiency of the developed program is also an imperative aspect to consider. Always take into account those developers who write programs that do not consume most of the computer resources when they are not in use. Experienced developers have at their fingertips codes that can increase a program speed without using much of a device’s memory space.

Usability, Adaptability, and Applicability

A good software design is defined by its ease of use. A software with the intuitive user-friendly interface, working navigation buttons and drag & drop features is easier to use.

• Makes things easier for the final users by removing unnecessary hurdles such as enabling case sensitive email addresses. A properly engineered software by default ‘ignores’ characters and their case (uppercase or lowercase) during data entry unless the user wants them to be enabled.

• Like just cookies in browsers and cache, consider software apps that can remember data filled in forms, passwords and other information. Most users prefer auto-fill functions to enable them to continue from where they might have left from when performing a particular task.

• This means that a good developer must possess skills to work in different coding environments be it Python or JavaScript. Moreover, they must be creative to augment new codes and patches to existing scripts to correct errors and customize the product to make it user-friendly.

The programs developed must be adaptable to various programming environments so that it can spearhead improvements by taking advantage of open source developers’ skills. Good programs are developed around the user. Thus, to efficient and logical programs programmers need to place themselves in the shoes of the end user.

Reliability and Security

We all don’t want apps that expose us to hackers and other malevolent people. At the start of a coding project, developers must always keep in mind the aspect of security and uptime/downtimes.

• A reliable software means that it can run 24/7 a week and 365 days a year. While program bugs may be inevitable, the reliable software comes with effective troubleshooting mechanisms that can create solutions for arising problems.

• Security is one of the areas of software development that requires proper design and management to ensure that the app and user data is resilient to attacks. The rise in social engineering that causes employees of a company to expose confidential data inadvertently can be prevented with proper security design.

The ability to design a software that is secure and reliable draws the line between novice programmers and experienced software engineers. How developers ensure that the four layers of a software model – physical, networking and application layer – are secured through multilayered approaches dictate the level of protection a software can support.

Whether the software can effectively detect phishing, ransomware or malware attacks depends on the security protocols used in the coding process right from the beginning of the writing process. Resilient software stockpiles data as plain texts and use multiple encryption algorithms to guard the data. Such software also is connected to backup centers to ensure that key software configuration and confidential info is not lost during data breaches.

Software developers prefer using top grade, ‘crème de la crème’ tools in their writing projects to help them create the correct code and develop a robustly secure software. For instance, most of our IT clients preferred LS Intranet to build a resilient collaboration and communication platform between developers. The platform is fortified with hard-to-crack encryptions to make the entire programming process secure.