Top 10 Types of Software Developers

#coding #programming #javascript

[AaronJack]

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[jasonl]

The people who write systems and libraries from scratch for other developers are truly gifted.

[dal]

As a software engineering grad student, I think systems programming is the hardest. Machine Learning isn't too difficult if you have a decent math foundation. But memory management and having to actually understand how different types of hardware work, are very specialized skills that don't come up in other areas of programming, let alone other industries. The people who wrote the Linux kernel and GNU must be absolute gigachads.

[Theuser]

Time Stamps:

1. Web Dev 0:43
2. Back End Web 3:01
3. Back End Micro Services 4:39
4. Data Engineer 6:55
5. Sys Admin / Dev Ops 9:01
6. Back End Embedded Systems 10:46
7. Back End Performance Developers 12:49
8. Ethical Hackers / Pen. Testers 14:19
9. Game Developers 15:51
10. Data Scientist and Machine Learning 17:33

For people who might need them

[alexgraham]

Being new to programming and looking to pic a language to learn, this feels like I'm about to choose a new character in an MMO. Thanks for the great vid!

[williamkatcher]

The concept of "back end" is only really applicable to web development. Nobody who works on embedded systems, for example, calls themselves "backend embedded software developers", they are just embedded software developers.

[LucasNunesK]

There are 10 types of people: those who understand binary and those who don't

[mikekelly]

In the 90's there was only one kind of developer that the business expected to do all 10 of these - Web Master. Today when the business doesn't want to pay for 10 developers they just advertise a single opening for "rock star full-stack developer."

[hopmjnh]

The quality of this video is just insane. You are making some real progress. Love your content. Keep it up!

[sirstroam]

Some of the ones you've missed.
Mainframe developers - Mostly older guys on the verge of retirement or from India where it is still taught. Used in large old established companies. COBOL and JCL is what is used. Very simple languages on very old and arcane systems.
Machine operator - Programs CNC, and other industrial equipment operating instructions. Uses G-code, M-code, and other machine-specific languages.
Quality Control Testers - Primarily write testing suites. Not very well respected.
Graphics rendering developers and sound technicians- Usually very good at math, loves talking about shaders/audio stuff, and frequently found working on game engines. It's only when they mess up that you notice their work.
Quantum computer programmers - Only a handful in the world.

[julienfrancesc]

I love your videos' vibe. It's always got a chill atmosphere and the content discussed is always really well explained. Keep it up!

[scrizzjunior]

I think software engineers who work on safety critical systems deserve a mention in a list like this. Engineers who work on flight control systems for planes, stuff for NASA (space shuttle), medical equipment, etc where software defects can cost lives. Although there is some overlap with some of the other categories on this list, the processes and techniques used to write safety critical software are very specialized and rigorous.

[FrankOdongkara]

Great video quality. I do disagree almost entirely with the idea that you can rank complexity by category. I personally started with embedded systems, then ML/AI, then Frontend+Backend+DevOps+DataAnalyst, and in my experience how complex the work I'm doing always depends on the project scope. For example, it's easier to train an AI model and load it to an ARM chip than to build the interface of a service like Uber.

[MarcillaSmith]

Less Complex End

1. Web Developer
2. Back End Web
3. Back End Micro Services
4. Data Engineer
5. SysAdmin / DevOps
6. Back End Embedded Systems
7. Back End Performance Developer
8. Hacker / Pen Tester
9. Game Developer
10. Data Scientist / Machine Learning

More Complex

[stropheum]

Very good video!

As a career game programmer, I would add a caveat to your point about pay. I think pre-5 years you're definitely correct about short pay, long hours. It's still a livable wage by all means, but the problem is that a lot of larger studios will dilute your pay with long hours so your effective hourly rate is very low. The plus side is, as a "veteran" game developer, you have a lot of experience, you've built trust, people know who you are. Most importantly people are willing to pay you bigger $$ because you've got shipped titles under your name. They know that you're an asset, not a gamble. The largest churn in the game industry is people fresh out of college, getting their 1-3 years of experience under their belt and working their way to mid-level. Senior veteran game developers are very stable, have very good pay, and that's usually because they've forged themselves into a rockstar along the way. One thing I love about the game industry is that nobody can really coast by and get a cushy job at a high level position without knowing exactly what they're doing and being strong collaborators.

It's definitely tough at first, but if anyone is discouraged about game dev as a career, I will say this: I burnt out of my first studio gig, and went into enterprise software, and it was significantly easier, but I had an itch that I just couldn't satisfy. The passion wasn't there, the energy of my coworkers felt so low, I felt like I was easing myself into an early coffin.If you can tough it out, the payoff is so worth it

[gargervon]

Watch an old video game developer who was making games for home computers and consoles in the 80s and you will see how sharp they had to be to give us some of our favorite experiences at the time.

[g.]

Embedded haven't been using Assembly for a looong time. The main reason is that compilers have become really good. When you find a good trick to speed up code in Assembly you just add it to your compiler. Occasionally they might decompile and tweak the machine code so it helps to know it. But devtime is way too important to attempt to handwrite anything major in machine code.

[noeldev]

I would say the difficulty in game development (solo, or in small teams mainly) is that you have to learn way more than just coding, game and level design, graphic design, music, story telling etc, because you have to be good at many things, it makes it hard, even if you are a excellent programmer, unless you got pepole for the other parts, your game is very likely to just fail

atleast that's just my opinion, being on the lower end of the game dev spectrum

[eberronbruce]

Forgot an important software developer these days. Mobile Developers

[DrunkenUFOPilot]

Missing from the list: Graphics Software Developer. This could be considered a specialty within Front End, or Games, but really does seem to be its own thing. Lots of OpenGL, Vulkan, DirectX12, Metal and loads of libraries for dealing with meshes, objects, animation, almost all in C++ or sometimes Rust, Java.

WebGL, Babylon, Three, and various Javascript libraries on top of those for working with Front End teams. Lots of 3D math, though no need for physics-level math jocks, since existing libraries take care of most of the details, but some ability to deal with vectors and coordinate systems.

Having an eye for color, lighting, composition is helpful, though a hard-core left-brained coder will usually work with a hard-core right-brained visual designer to get things done. (I don't do that; I'm what you might call a "full stack" digital artist.)

Understanding the hardware level of how things work is also good, since fast high quality graphics, especially in high end games, requires sling plenty of data around real fast. Can't waste time moving some data someplace only to copy it someplace else.

Pays well, and the best part: playing with shaders all day long! Also one of the best areas of software development for impressing others, since you are literally making what others will see, tied only with Front End web developers.