4 Challenges Faced by Software Developers
Every career has its pros and cons. Before jumping into the software development, you should consider the challenges faced by software developers and understand the ways to solve these problems. With the following suggestion in mind, you will be able to overcome these challenges!
Challenge 1: Keeping up with the trend
The world of technology changes rapidly. This applies to frameworks, software, API versions, tools and even web browsers. These changes will lead to overall improvements. But this means that we need to keep learning in order to evolve and adapt. As a new developer, it can be frustrating and overwhelming to deal with the constant changes.
How to solve this?
You can read blog posts online, attend conferences, listen to pod cast, and read through the published change logs. It may be difficult to start in the beginning. However, once this becomes a habit, you will not be frightened by the wealth of information. Besides, you will become a better coder and develop more innovation products.
Challenge 2: Meeting the needs of users
Every project has a different purpose. To meet the various demands, you must first understand what the users want before moving on to the concept design and development phase. Having a clear understanding, the developer can speed up the development process and satisfy the growing list of customer demands.
How to solve this?
You can communicate with the designers who are responsible for user experience and user interface. They will have insight on how the end user will use the final product. Moreover, you can release a beta version of the software to let people test it while you continue to fine tune the program.
Challenge 3: Estimating project lead time
Time is of the essence in all kinds of project development. Despite the well intention to meet a tight deadlines, people typically underestimate the time it takes in the software development process. Furthermore, time constraints often reduce the development efficiency and lead to poor end product. This unrealistic expectation will definitely cause problems among all the parties involved.
How to solve this?
First, developers should give themselves buffer time. The additional time will minimize the unnecessary pressure. Second, the projects should be broken down into smaller manageable tasks. Itemizing each tasks will allow the developers to have a more accurate estimation of time.
Challenge 4: Debugging
Bugs are common. Even the most sophisticated codes can have bugs. Luckily, the bugs can be fixed. The bugs can be as simple as a one line code such as a spelling mistake in the pop up message. Or the problem can be so complex that quality assurance testers aren’t sure if it is an actual bug. New programmers should not feel frustrated because there is always a solution.
How to solve this?
Try to reproduce the newly incorporated codes to see what is causing the errors. You can also refactor codes while reproducing the codes to make it more readable. This will save you time in the future when you need to make other modifications. If the problem persists, don’t forget to seek help. Perhaps the tester who spotted the bugs can address the issue with you.
Where to learn coding in Hong Kong?
If you can tackle the various challenges faced by software developers but lack the technical skills and financial support, you should consider FEF Foundation scholarship program to enroll in the Xccelerate Full-Time Immersive Software Engineering.
You can apply for our scholarship here.