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How to Develop and Improve Collaboration in DevOps Teams

DevOps is becoming more and more popular in the world of business. By streamlining the development and IT management processes, DevOps reduces organizational silos and produces a better final product or service for the customer.

However, DevOps is fundamentally reliant on strong collaboration. Without honest, open, and easy communication and shared working practices across your organization, DevOps will just be a buzzword. 

If you want to introduce a true DevOps philosophy and culture to your organization, read on to learn how to develop and introduce collaboration in your DevOps teams.

What is DevOps?

DevOps refers to a set of practices and philosophies that aim to overhaul the culture of your organization – that means it’s quite difficult to get your head around what DevOps actually is.

It can be useful to start with an example. Let’s say, for instance, that you create a remote desktop software for iPad. Under a DevOps model, the people managing that software will be the same overall team that developed it. This means that any issues can be easily resolved as the management team will be true experts in the software.

DevOps is best thought of as an approach to software development and management that aims to overcome the gap between the planning and programming stage and the implementation and feedback stage. Rather than splitting the overall development process between a programming team and an IT team, DevOps creates one streamlined operation.

This can help you to draw on a wider range of expertise and skills, remove barriers to truly creative collaboration, and develop more effective operations.

In order for an organization to use a DevOps model, you must be prepared to break down the traditional divide between development and operations teams. This can take a range of different forms: you might choose to merge both operations together into one team or you might choose to integrate even more teams, such as those responsible for managing websites.

Why is collaboration so important in DevOps?

Why is collaboration so important in DevOps?

Because DevOps is all about getting previously separate teams to work together, it shouldn’t be a surprise that effective collaboration is what makes or breaks a DevOps model.

As automation – tools that make DevOps easier by automating processes previously divided between development and operations teams – is a key part of DevOps, some companies prioritize automation over collaboration. However, you have to remember that the tools are only as good as the people who use them.

Collaboration and communication is important from the very beginning of a transition to DevOps. That’s because people are naturally resistant to change – explaining why you’re overhauling existing organizational structures can create buy-in among employees. At the same time, you should show how collaboration can work in practice to produce better outcomes.

Without effective collaboration running through your DevOps team, you can probably assume that your processes will soon end up simply operating as before: divided between development and operations teams.

How to improve DevOps collaboration: a step-by-step guide

If you’re using a DevOps structure, therefore, it’s pretty clear that you need to always be developing and improving collaboration. Without this, you won’t be seeing any of the benefits that come with DevOps. So how can you improve DevOps collaboration in your organization?

1) Identify any clear collaboration problems

Before you start making any changes to your DevOps processes, you should take a step back and consider what is already working well and what can be improved. If there are any immediate issues, such as problems with your online telephone service that prevent engineers from working with each other, you should prioritize those.

You should also talk with employees from across the DevOps team. Their experiences will dictate what you need to focus on as you look to improve collaboration. You could also use business analytics tools to establish the effectiveness of collaboration in your organization.

2) Increase the visibility of everyone’s work

Increase the visibility of everyone’s work

If you want people to work collaboratively on a project, they need to actually be able to see the work that is being done. Improving visibility should be a key part of any DevOps model – engineers should be able to see what each other is working on and the levels of progress across the team so that they know who to offer help to.

For some developers, this can be a daunting step. After all, it’s easy to feel protective or embarrassed about work in progress. However, full visibility will let everyone learn from what others are doing.

Achieving full visibility in the technology sector can be difficult. Despite this, you can improve visibility by finding a workflow software that lets the entire team see test results, feedback, and ongoing development. By encouraging engineers to download remote desktop connection tools, your team will be able to have visibility of each other’s work from anywhere in the world.

3) Remove barriers to information

In the traditional model of using separate development and operations teams, engineers who produced a piece of software wouldn’t have had access to most of the information about how that software worked in practice. This had a detrimental effect on their future work, as they couldn’t learn from their earlier efforts.

That’s why an important principle that supports any DevOps culture is free access to information. This is obviously true for information such as testing results but should also apply to your overall culture and mindset: if you work in an office, keep your door open during meetings.

While you’ll have to be careful to consider privacy and security regulations, try to grant open access to your data for all DevOps engineers. By having the same information to draw on, your engineers will find collaboration much easier.

On top of this, consider communication tools like transcription software. These can remove barriers for the entire DevOps team by ensuring everyone has access to notes from meetings and can search for and edit past meeting notes in collaborative documents.

4) Celebrate bravery

Celebrate bravery

Collaboration can be an intimidating concept, especially if your developers are used to working in small siloed teams. That’s why creating a culture of collaboration is so important. One great way to do this is by publicly celebrating those engineers and developers who were brave enough to experiment with other engineers.

You should point out that collaboration is often a risk; developers will be worried about failing publicly. Celebrating the process of collaboration – even if the outcomes are failures – can be a really powerful way to develop a collaborative mindset among your DevOps team.

This culture of collaboration is also important when it comes to hiring; you shouldn’t just rely on technical screening. Instead, look for potential employees who are able and willing to collaborate effectively.

5) Mix up your teams

Many companies fail at DevOps by pursuing a DevOps model in name only – they don’t actually integrate the development and operations teams. Sometimes, building a successful DevOps team will require you to specifically diversify the subteams that deal with certain problems.

If you’re new to DevOps, you might want to buddy up developers with operations engineers. Forcing them together will encourage a collaborative practice to develop, while also speeding up the process of integration between the two teams. You should carefully consider the different skills of your employees and buddy up those with contrasting experiences and strengths.

It’s also important that you consider how to have a varied range of perspectives across your DevOps team. With remote working tools like RealVNC becoming more and more sophisticated, you can hire the perfect people for your team without having to worry about their location – this means that you can easily diversify your DevOps team as you grow.

6) Cultivate a DevOps mindset from the very top

Cultivate a DevOps mindset from the very top

Whether you’re a developer or engineer working in a DevOps team, or a member of your company’s management team, you have a responsibility to grow the DevOps mindset through your words, actions, and working processes.

This is especially important for leaders – they should model what good collaborative work looks like in practice by being open, accessible, and approachable. They should respect the insights of every team member and encourage them to put forward their views and opinions.

An important part of encouraging the DevOps mindset from the top of the organization is by providing opportunities to upskill your employees. This can let team members who originally worked solely as early-stage software developers build skills that are more applicable to the holistic and integrated environment of a DevOps workplace.

This will help to grow a collaborative DevOps mindset as employees will feel more confident and secure in their own skills, meaning that they’re more willing to risk failing publicly by working collaboratively.

Collaboration: the key to a successful DevOps mindset 

If you want DevOps to be more than just another buzzword in your organization, it’s vital that you find ways to develop and improve collaboration between your software developers and engineers.

Our guide to collaboration in DevOps will help you achieve this. By increasing visibility and removing barriers to information, some of the practical issues hindering collaboration will be overcome.

You can then start to focus on growing a collaborative mindset among your employees. Start celebrating collaborative work and model this from the top – soon, you’ll have a successful DevOps team working in harmony!

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Community Tips

The Future of Front-End Development: Don’t Get Left Behind

Front-end development is really the closest coding gets to connecting directly with users. Every choice you make impacts the experiences people have with websites and mobile apps. This makes your skills and creative perspectives as a developer extremely valuable to organizations that need online resources. Which, let’s face it, is pretty much every organization today.

That said, the digital landscape is constantly changing. To keep being successful as a developer, you need to have a good understanding of what the future of front-end is likely to be and how you can navigate it. Let’s dive a little deeper into this issue.

In-Demand Features and Tech

As a front-end developer, one of the keys to not getting left behind is to embrace the technology and features that clients are prioritizing. This isn’t just the elements that are popular now, but also those that are likely to demand in the foreseeable future. Nobody’s expecting you to be both the master of all skills and a technological Nostradamus all rolled into one. Nevertheless, there are a few areas of front-end dev it’s worth keeping on top of.

Chatbots

Businesses are increasingly considering chatbots to be a front-line customer service and informational tool. It is, therefore, important to be adept in making conversational platforms that are relevant to specific clients’ individual needs and integrating these into websites. There are various platforms to help with this, including DialogFlow, which uses Google’s natural language processing (NLP) tools to support voice and text-based conversations.

Offline accessibility

Businesses naturally want their consumers to be able to engage with their web resources or apps easily and conveniently. Unfortunately, low network connectivity and dropped signals can disrupt this. One of the solutions is establishing offline accessibility. This is why it’s important to know how to implement effective caching, data storage, and information retrieval procedures. They let users interact with resources to some extent until connections have been restored.

Autocoding

Artificial intelligence (AI) driven coding tools can’t replace the creativity of developers. Nevertheless, it’s worth considering that autocoding platforms can be tools for efficient development. Starting to identify where to strategically automate some aspects of coding can streamline processes. On one hand, this gives you space to dedicate your attention to creative and problem-solving aspects. On the other, it makes you a more agile contributor for clients whose needs can change quickly.

Developing Collaboratively

As a front-end developer, it can certainly feel as though you’re operating pretty independently. Nevertheless, there are ways you collaborate on projects. This can be with clients or back-end developers, among others. These collaborations are likely to continue being important in the foreseeable future. To be left behind, you need to stay on top of how the nature of collaboration is likely to change.

Some of the aspects to be aware of include:

  • Collaborating remotely: One of the great advantages of the digital landscape is that companies have access to talented contributors across the world. This means that collaborating remotely, potentially between different time zones is likely to be key to your future in front-end development. Start getting familiar with tools that make these easier, like project management platforms and digital whiteboards for asynchronous ideation.
  • Collaborating in the metaverse: Virtual spaces are looking increasingly likely to be the future of online interactions. Therefore, you’ll need to start exploring not just how to develop for the metaverse, but also how to meaningfully collaborate with others within it. It’s wise to start testing out platforms for ideation meetings and perhaps even prototyping. Importantly, learn how to maintain the security of the data and ideas you’re sharing with others in these spaces. 

Additionally, no matter how you approach your collaboration, communicating your plans and ideas will always be vital to success. After all, there are various stakeholders connected to your front-end development and your actions in any project can impact those of other people. Mistakes here can cause conflict and may affect clients’ and other collaborators’ buy-in to your ideas.

Therefore, you need to adopt effective strategic plan communication measures. These include taking the time to suggest regular all-hands meetings that allow everyone to stay informed about the details of the project and feel meaningfully involved. You can also provide greater clarity on the goals and details of the development project with engaging visuals rather than just text explanations.

Maintaining Your Abilities

Not getting left behind in the future of front-end also means understanding that you need to pay attention to how effectively you’re functioning. There are likely to be challenges ahead that you’ll need to navigate. As a result, paying some attention to maintaining your ability to be a technical and creative contributor is essential. This isn’t just good for your professional efficacy, but also for continuing to enjoy what you’re doing.

Start by committing to seeking out opportunities to upskill. Even if you’ve already achieved a high level of development aptitude, there are always areas for improvement and diversification. Importantly, research into in-demand features and tools can give you the data to target the most relevant abilities. Perhaps above all else, be open to following your curiosity.

Another key to maintaining your abilities is to be aware of potential health risks associated with your work and mitigate them. For instance, computer vision syndrome (CVS) is an eye condition that can arise from prolonged screen time. This is due to strain from repetitive eye movements, closeness of screens, and even exposure to blue light. Be mindful of symptoms of such conditions, like regular headaches or light sensitivity. Importantly, take preventative steps by scheduling regular screen breaks and optimizing your computer setup.

Conclusion

Understanding the future of front-end development can help you more effectively prepare for it. This can include getting to know the likely in-demand features and tools, alongside best practices for working collaboratively as the landscape changes. Nevertheless, it’s important to understand that you can’t guarantee what the future will hold. Stay on top of industry news and have conversations with your professional network. This can help you to catch the early signs of changes so you can adapt in good time.

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Navigating the New Era of Learning: Top Generative AI Books for Programmers

Hello, we’re Computer Science Professors Dr. Leo Porter and Dr. Daniel Zingaro. We’ve dedicated our careers to helping students succeed in programming and computer science courses. There are approaches we know are effective in teaching novices, such as learning from worked-out examples and using real-world problems that resonate with students. When we’re reading a book, we’re always thinking: will this book help people learn? Does it use what we know about learning to serve as an effective teaching aid? Can we use this with our students? Can we for once stop analyzing the book and just read for fun? (The answer to that last question is, unfortunately, ‘no,’ 😀 We can’t help it!)

With massive changes happening due to generative AI tools like ChatGPT and GitHub Copilot, you won’t be surprised that there’s a swarm of new books that use generative AI to teach programming to beginners or to enhance what programmers can do.

In this article, we wanted to cover our top four generative AI books that are being published by Manning Publications.

Special Deal! Get 35% Off all Manning Products at checkout with code bldevnat23 @ Manning.com

Introduction to Generative AI
Introduction to Generative AI: An ethical, societal, and legal overview Numa Dhamani and Maggie Engler

We know, we know: you just want to use generative AI to supercharge your programming productivity. We want that, too! But we’re at the dawn of a programming revolution here, and we strongly encourage you to take the time to understand the ethical and legal concerns wrought by generative AI. 

What happens when generative AI models ingest objectionable speech or personal data? Why are these models apt to produce hallucinations, and why should we care? Why is it so difficult to address bias in machine learning? What is the critical role that human feedback plays in LLM training, and what are the associated costs to humans? Does generative AI’s use of copyrighted work fall under fair use?

As informed end-users of generative AI, it’s up to us to answer these questions–to understand what data we might be using, how that data was produced, and the societal and ethical impacts of these tools. This book helps us toward those answers.

We appreciate that many claims in the book are supported with references that the reader can check for additional details. We also benefited from numerous powerful examples throughout the book, such as racial bias in movie sentiment scores, a ChatGPT data breach, and a famous virtual influencer.

We’d also like to emphasize that while the focus of the book is on the responsible use of generative AI, there is also a non-mathematical overview coverage of how generative AI tools work, which we suspect will be of interest to many readers. For example, you’ll learn more about many concepts you’ve probably heard about in passing, such as foundation models, fine-tuning, emergent properties of LLMs, zero-shot and few-shot learning, and chain-of-thought prompting.

Finally, we applaud the balanced discussion of the pros and cons of synthetic media, the ways that LLMs are and will be misused, the ways that professionals are using LLMs and–of course!–the coverage of the impacts on education.

Dhamani and Engler’s Introduction to Generative AI is a must-read foundational guide not only to understand how generative AI works but also to understand its broader societal implications.

Learn AI-Assisted Python Programming
Learn AI-Assisted Python Programming: With GitHub Copilot and ChatGPT Leo Porter and Daniel Zingaro

The two of us (Daniel Zingaro and Leo Porter) wrote this book because we believe that the way new programmers learn to program has changed dramatically now that generative AI is here. We’ve both taught thousands of students to program over the years and a lot of our time needed to revolve around teaching syntax, which is the ways that words and symbols are put together to create programs that run. But generative AI handles syntax extremely well (which is a good thing, because many learners find syntax boring and frustrating). So, in writing this book, our guiding question was: what are the main skills that new programmers need to learn now?

In this book, written for absolute beginners, you’ll be writing programs that work from day one, in contrast to the before times when you would have had to learn lots of syntax first. You’ll learn how to test code that comes from the generative AI to check whether it is correct, break down large problems into smaller bits that the AI can better solve, and use a debugger to trace your code very carefully to see what it’s doing. Oh, and you’ll be learning Python along the way, too, in case you need that for your resume 🙂

The Complete Obsolete Guide to Generative AI
The Complete Obsolete Guide to Generative AI
David Clinton

Why would you buy and read a book with ‘obsolete’ in the title? What the author is getting at with this irreverent title is that generative AI is moving so quickly that everything written about it will be obsolete quickly. We may as well understand the foundations of effectively interacting with these tools, which is what this book focuses on.

The book starts by explaining the background concepts you need to know when working with generative AI tools. What’s a token? What are the differences between all of those GPT models? What the heck is temperature and Top P?

You need Python experience to read this one. This isn’t a programming book, though. It’s a “let’s see what we can do with generative AI!” book. You’ll generate fiction (not very good fiction… yet?), generate book cover images, convert slides to videos, and quickly obtain summaries of boring meetings and long PDF documents. The book tours many powerful generative AI tools that you may not have been aware of–it goes way beyond what the general public is doing with ChatGPT.

The key takeaway of the book is that the best results come from pairing your domain knowledge with the explosion of content you can create with generative AI.

AI-Powered Developer: Build great software with ChatGPT and Copilot Nathan B. Crocker

OK — so you’re already a Python developer and you want to start using LLMs to rocket your productivity. How? By reading Crocker’s new book 😀

This book shows you how to use GitHub Copilot, ChatGPT, and Amazon CodeWhisperer (and when to use each). It assumes that you already know Python, and we further suggest that familiarity with building APIs in Python would be a plus.

Through its chapters, you’ll build an Information Technology Asset Management (ITAM) system, using generative AI for each step… from designing the system to writing the code, generating data, testing and managing the deployment, and helping with security. (Yes: generative AI is useful way beyond writing code for you!)

The pro of writing the book as one comprehensive example is that you see how a complete application is built and deployed with generative AI help. The cons are that it makes it difficult to jump around the book and that if you are not motivated by the chosen example then the book itself may not be as motivating as a collection of smaller examples. We need books of both types!

For us, the material on system design is of particular interest, because in our time working with generative AI, we have done the high-level design and left the low-level code to the AI. Crocker’s book shows that experienced programmers can indeed push generative AI into the design realm as well, including proposing designs, creating class diagrams for designs, and comparing and contrasting potential designs.

Whether you want to understand generative AI at a societal level, to learn programming from scratch “the new way,” to add generative AI to your programming toolbox, or to be inspired to use generative AI to … generate (sorry!) content, we’re confident that you’ll find value in one or more of these books.

Manning Publications is a premier publisher of technical books on computer and software development topics for both experienced developers and new learners alike.

Manning prides itself on being independently owned and operated, and for paving the way for innovative initiatives, such as early access book content and protection-free PDF formats that are now industry standard.

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From Novice to Notable: Essential Steps to Shine in Web Development

how to shine in web development

So, you want to be a web developer. But not just any web developer – you want to make a name for yourself. Work as a freelancer for the biggest and best companies, developing the coolest products, or landing a job at the most renowned companies in the world.

If that sounds like what’s on your vision board, you’re most likely not looking for yet another article with generic advice on becoming a web developer – you want to learn how to become a great one. 

We can’t promise you it will be an easy road, nor will it be a short one, but in this article, we provide you with a map that leads you along the essential milestones you need to pass. We’re not here to just scratch the surface, we’re going to dive deep. 

Foundations first: it’s not just about the code

Yes, when becoming a web developer, mastering HTML, CSS, and JavaScript is as crucial as learning the alphabet when you first go to school. But web development is much more than that and stretches far beyond programming languages.

You will need to be or become a great problem solver, understand algorithms, be comfortable chiming in on User Experience necessities or UI design and have a knack for system design principles. 

So when you embark on this journey, don’t just limit yourself to programming courses – keep it fun for yourself by branching out into relevant fields. The more you understand the bigger picture, the better you’ll get at working on the details.

Specialize, but diversify

We know that sounds as vague as a direction as ‘take a sharp left to the right’, but it’s where you make a difference. But there are 24.3 million active developers in the world and that number is expected to grow to more than double in the next decade to about 45 million, in 2030.

You can choose to dive deep into React, become the best at Node.js or turn into the go-to guru for GraphQL, based on your interests and talents. Yet as you root down in your specialization, it’s important to branch out into more diverse fields. 

We don’t mean knowing a little bit of everything but learning about adjacent technologies or emerging trends that are tightly knit with your specialization, like cybersecurity from a web development perspective. This makes your knowledge much more practical and easily applicable in projects and new roles, and you’ll easily blend into bigger teams.

Passion, meeting demand

When determining what your root specialization will be, keep an eye on what the demand for that is like. That doesn’t mean that you should necessarily follow the route to whatever is most in demand. You can still choose something that is less sought after, as long as you have a clear idea of where you want to end up and what you bring to the table. Be ambitious and be realistic in equal measures. 

Don’t just check what the current or projected demand for a specific type of web developer is, but also look at past data to understand what is happening. If possible, talk to industry experts to find out the reason behind it all – this will help you gauge what is risky and what is worth pursuing. 

Hands-on projects: create your own ticket to real-world experience

It’s a paradox as old as time: you need experience to get started, but you need to get started to gain experience. Don’t sit back and mope about this: start with beginner projects to get hands-on experience that you can show off.

Create a simple ecommerce website or a website for a business. Experiment with these. Try to recreate more difficult web projects to hone your skills and learn to see how the experts come to certain conclusions and setups. You don’t need to contact them to turn them into your mentors. 

Start up side projects for yourself, even if it’s just a website, on which you try to record your progress as a web developer. Over time, these side projects, even if they’re just fictional, will fill up your portfolio. Showing off an unpaid passion project or unofficial work is always better than having to say you don’t have anything yet. 

You can even seek out collaborations with other soon-to-be professionals in related fields to really polish up your projects. Think designers, copywriters, photographers or anyone else who works in fields that web developers will eventually have to work with. 

Networking: it’s about how you work together

Like many industries, web development is one of those where it does matter who you know. You don’t have to sign up for every in-person event (although, if that’s your jam, go for it!), but you can start online. Start leveraging the communities that have formed on social media platforms. 

Get familiar with GitHub and dive into the world of Dev.to. Find Reddit threads and communities where you can connect with like-minded people or people you can learn from. X and LinkedIn are also great places to connect with people and stay on top of trends.

In those groups, you’ll likely see events that are organized, like coding boot camps, hackathons, or even local coding groups. It might feel awkward at first, or strange (or it doesn’t, if you’re an extrovert), but try to ease yourself into these events. Not just for the connections you’ll build: you will also learn how to collaborate and put your skills to work in new ways. 

Digital presence: your portfolio is part of your portfolio

As a web developer, you can hardly expect that you can get away with just a resume. You are building products, and those just don’t come to life as a simple link in a PDF. 

It’s time to start building your personal portfolio website – which, in a sense, is part of your portfolio. On this website, you can share projects you’ve worked on. You can build more authority in your field by writing (technical) blogs. If you’ve contributed to any open-source projects, this is also the place to show that off. 

Leveraging AI in web development journey: job searching made easier

You can’t ignore AI in web development nor in the journey to becoming a web developer or landing a job in the field. AI-powered tools like the best AI resume builders will be your personal assistant, laying the groundwork for you. 

A common misconception is that these AI resume builders will only help you create all-size-fits-one, generic resumes. That’s only when they’re used wrong. If you let AI create the foundation you need for your resume, you can then perfect it even further with personal touches and creativity. If you start from scratch, by the time you get to this stage, you’re probably too tired or frustrated to really make your resume pop. 

Continuous learning: plan on how you’ll stay relevant

Web developers all face the same challenge: their profession and industry are quickly evolving. New frameworks, tools and trends change the landscape daily, and you’re going to have to create a structure for yourself that helps you keep up with it all.

Set learning goals for yourself: attend one webinar a week, write one blog a month on a new trend, or go to industry conferences with like-minded friends. The key here is to have a plan in place for how you plan to educate yourself – don’t just let it be something you do when you’ve got some time to spare. 

You can also squeeze in some learning on the go with online courses or podcasts, or by following big names in web development on social media. We’ve got a great knowledge base ready for you to dive into.

So, what’s your next step?

It’s important to understand that there is no surefire framework to follow that guarantees success. It’s a continuous process that might feel like you’re going back and forth, doing various things at once.

But to avoid it becoming so chaotic that you’d rather just give up, start by writing out a plan for the next twelve months. This doesn’t have to be a strict timetable but a flexible guideline that will help you stay on track.

Your first month could be dedicated to intensive learning and bruising up on your foundational skills. Plan on your first project for a few weeks from now. Make sure you create a system that helps you document your progress, learnings, and challenges – as tangible proof of your progress.

Start networking early. You can already dive into groups on LinkedIn and find threads for newbies or like-minded people on Reddit. 

Plan the things that excite you most as well, like building your own website, to keep you excited.

Your roadmap isn’t set in stone, but a living document. Keep it somewhere you can access it easily and check in often. Good luck!

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How to Build a Free Educational Web3 Community in Your Country

web3dev

Developers can earn financial incentives from the community by teaching other DEVs how to get into Web3.

Web3 has become increasingly popular among developers. Various job opportunities arise for companies wishing to develop decentralized software and applications in various sectors to bring innovation to their businesses. 

However, not all developers have enough knowledge about Web3 and its technologies to create solutions in this area. That is why a DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization) of DEVs in your country can be an excellent way to exchange knowledge about Web3 and still receive financial incentives for it. 

The Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) is an autonomous entity based on blockchain technology, where the DAO is capable of automating administrative processes such as voting, resource allocation, and contract execution without the need for intermediaries. 

These organizations have a structure that enables democratic and transparent governance. Through blockchain technology, the DAO operates with a public and distributed ledger, ensuring transparency and immutability of operations conducted by the DAO. 

This means that all transactions, including votes, execution of smart contracts, among others, are recorded permanently and verifiably by any participant in the network. This strengthens trust and security in the DAO, as there is no central authority controlling or manipulating the records. 

Known as the “decentralized web”, Web3 is a new internet phase that is rapidly expanding and aims to create a more secure and fair internet. Web3 is based on blockchain technology and smart contracts. 

Even though it is still in its initial stages, Web3 is already the focus of projects that aim to revolutionize the way we interact within the internet. For developers who want to join this new web, one way to learn or teach about Web3 is by creating a Web3 community in their country. 

How to Create a Web3 Community in Your Country 

The meeting point of a Web3 community is usually a website or a free Discord application, which allows democratic access. The tool allows several types of interactions among

members, regardless of language or country, expanding the potential of each member, whether in personal or professional realms, with technical or behavioral skills. 

The WEB3DEV community is ready for educational expansion in new countries. In Discord, there is already support from proficient developers in English, Spanish, and Portuguese who can help create WEB3DEV in your country, providing support to DEVs in other languages. 

How to Receive Incentives to Expand WEB3DEV 

At WEB3DEV, for example, DEVs are encouraged to learn, following the concept of “learn to earn”, with a commitment to be rewarded for teaching what they learn through educational materials, whether in text, video, or audio, generating this multiplier effect. 

Developers can copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format and can adapt and transform it for any purpose. All the work at WEB3DEV is organized into “Pods”, working groups focused on specific needs. 

Each “pod” has a specific purpose, and the groups share responsibilities and autonomy among participating developers. You can create a community in your country and start a pod, collaborating and bringing other DEVs freely and earning proportional remuneration based on what is produced. Or you can create a community in your country with fixed members, where developers have a connection with the “pod” and commit to the routine and demands that arise. 

Based on our economic model, you can have a clearer understanding of how local community founders are remunerated: 

What is WEB3DEV? 

WEB3DEV is a DAO that focuses its initiatives on three pillars: education, community, and building. It brings the future of the internet in an accessible way to developers all around the world.

Created in 2022 by Daniel Cukier, Yan Luiz, and Melk, the community is dedicated to creating content that encourages all software developers to share high-quality knowledge about Web3. 

Through WEB3DEV, didactic content about blockchain is taught. Additionally, it promotes the connection of companies and developers to foster new talent and build and support DEV teams in Web3 projects. 

Any developer can start a WEB3DEV community in their country, using or creating content and adapting it to the local language. Participating in this community can be a unique opportunity to improve your skills, meet other developers, and contribute to the development of Web3 technology worldwide. If you want to create a community in your country, please get in touch with the DAO directly through our website. 

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Community

Introducing Developer Nation forums

developer nation forums

It’s been a while (read 3 months) since we launched the Official Developer Nation forum along with our revamped website. But we have yet to make a formal announcement about it. This blog will serve as an official bulletin illustrating our rationale behind launching a self-hosted forum for Developer Nation.

Being a global community, we are aware that developers worldwide depend on us and each other for support, sharing ideas, collaboration, and diverse perspectives to make informed decisions in their programming journey. However, we didn’t want to hastily create yet another Discord server or Slack workspace without careful consideration, which could result in unanswered queries and inactivity.

How we support our global developer community 

We have been providing extensive assistance to our community members via email for a considerable period. Our support ranges from answering their questions, and connecting them with relevant individuals in the community, to sharing developer market research reports upon request from our vast data repository. We also extend it to help them with job hunting, among other things. However, we noticed all this happening behind closed doors, isolated from the rest of the community, for no reason but a lack of an open platform. Even if another developer had a similar query or request, they could not benefit from previous conversation flows with other members. Therefore, we decided to take this to the next level by providing the community with a platform to collaborate openly and benefit from the conversations other members are having.

Announcing Developer Nation Forums

Developer Nation forums are our discourse server which can be accessed at: https://forum.developernation.net/, now without actually telling you what you can do here, I would highly encourage you to check it out yourself and consider this our community playground where nothing is wrong, and everything posted is regarded as a healthy flow of conversations within the community. We’ve created the categories we see fit (for now), but this is ever-evolving as we receive community feedback. 

One of the key goals of creating our own forums is to help our community self-serve themselves; that means once the forums have significant conversations, the chances of you finding an answer to your query increase by many folds. Thus, new members can better navigate our community and surveys and get support without needing to reach out to us personally.

Apart from creating your own threads and participating in conversations started by other community members, you can customise the look and feel from dark to light mode. Feel free to explore more and share your feedback with me on how we can make it better and more inclusive for everyone. I believe our community members will generously help each other on the forums and make it a sustainable healthy hangout place for all the members.

P.S: Since every member of the Developer Nation community team, including me, spends time on forums every day, the chances of your query being addressed are relatively high there.

I’ve created this short video as a quick crash course on using the forums for the first time; check it out, and I look forward to welcoming you there. Cheers!

Join forums here

– Ayan

Categories
Community News and Resources

Shaping the future of Developer Space: Start here.

the future of Developer Space

It’s, no doubt, one of the fastest moving tech eras in the history of technology. From artificial intelligence and machine learning to blockchain and virtual reality, emerging technologies are transforming entire industries and redefining the way we interact with the world around us. 

For software developers , keeping up with the latest technologies has never been more crucial. By continually testing your knowledge and understanding of these technologies, you can utilize those capabilities to their greatest potential, making your life simpler, faster and more efficient. But where do you start?

Our brand-new Developer Nation survey is now open for developers who’d like to test their standing with the latest technologies and leave their mark in shaping the future of developer space. To help you get a better understanding of who we are, what we do and what it feels like to be a part of our developer community, we’ve also compared the Developer Nation Survey with the surveys offered by other developer communities, like Stack Overflow, across a variety of parameters to help you make the choice for yourself. 

Now, read on and unleash the incredible power of your voice!

Developer Nation Survey: Your Voice Matters

Developer Nation survey is the leading research programme that focuses on capturing and analyzing the trends in the developer ecosystem by inviting the participation of developers within the Web, Mobile, Desktop, Cloud, DevOps, Industrial IoT & Consumer Electronics, AR/VR, Apps/extensions for 3rd party ecosystems, Games, Machine Learning & AI, and Data Science fields. Some of the questions we ask revolve around your favourite tools and platforms, the projects you’re currently working on, your perspective on the software development cycle, and more. 

Why does your voice matter? Because it helps shed light on the challenges, trends, and opportunities within the developer community. With developers being the backbone of technological advancements and innovation, your opinion can directly influence the tools, programming languages, and industry standards of tomorrow. 

Many big tech companies trust our unique data insights in helping them understand developers better and shape their strategies. Here’s how Okta uses our data – your voice, to unlock more developer opportunities.

By participating in the Developer Nation Survey, you’ll be able to not only gain valuable insights and learn about the latest trends, but also have a chance to share your voice and ensure that your unique perspective is considered in shaping the future of software development. 

Comparing Prominent Developer Surveys

While these surveys focus on grasping the essence and behaviors of the developer community, they offer unique perspectives and insights across different dimensions, such as location, prizes, developer communities, loyalty programs, and average reach. 

Focus point

The Developer Nation Survey offers a global perspective, covering a wide range of topics and trends that impact developers worldwide. It emphasizes inclusivity and collaboration, ensuring that diverse voices and experiences are represented in shaping the future of software development. On the other hand, the Stack Overflow Developer Survey and Offerzen’s State of the European Software Developer Nation Survey have a narrower focus, and, therefore, offer localized insights and shed light on the challenges and opportunities within particular regions. 

To reach a wider and more diverse audience, we also translate our Developer Nation surveys in 10 languages  and make it available in 165+ countries, making it accessible and convenient for people who are not native English speakers. 

Loyalty program

With the mission of helping developers be their best selves, we place great importance on giving back to our community by sharing valuable insights and data, helping them set the right foundations for their careers, discover opportunities for professional growth and reward them for active participation with our loyalty program. Give us your feedback, participate in our survey production process or complete the survey to gather points, unlock special benefits and win prizes! 

Prizes

We understand that there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach. As a result, we try to bring in many exciting rewards which can be useful, practical and high-tech. Compared with other communities, we offer a wide range of different prizes and here’s what you can get your hands on by taking part in our Developer Nation survey:  cards and vouchers towards your desktop setup, a MacBook Pro13 M2, an Asus ZenBook13, annual or monthly licenses, courses credits to learn something new, and many more. Plus, everyone who completes the survey will get a free virtual goody bag with access to free resources. So, why not take your chance to get something you always wanted?

Giving back to the community

We make recurring donations to the charity of your choice. For each qualified survey response we donate USD $0.10 to different charities and organizations supported by our developer community. Our goal is to reach USD $1,700 in donations. Take the survey, pick a charity to support, and help us make a difference!

the future of Developer Space

What we do with the data 

We protect your privacy by anonymising all your answers. Those results are then available in the free State of the Developer Nation 25th Edition report, which you can be the first one to have access to by taking our survey! If you’re interested in the insights we offer in our reports, check out the previous editions here.

We exchange those insights regarding emerging trends among developers to help individuals responsible for developing tools and platforms in understanding the genuine needs of software creators. Our research remains independent, meaning that our surveys and data are not owned by any vendor, community, or other affiliated partner.

As for our survey methodology, we keep it transparent by making our sampling and analysis methods available in all our reports on developernation.net, free to download for all developers.

Ready to kick things off? Start the survey now!

Categories
APIs Community

What makes up a high-quality API

high-quality API

With third-party APIs, developers can leverage the power of external expertise to enhance the functionality of their applications. However, to ensure success, they must carefully evaluate the quality of APIs before incorporating them into their applications. This chapter aims to investigate the key characteristics that make third-party APIs high-quality, according to developers.

In recent years, application programming interfaces (APIs) have become a key part of modern software development. APIs act as intermediaries that facilitate communication between different applications through established protocols and definitions. By using APIs, developers can leverage the power of other applications without needing custom integrations. In turn, this allows them to focus more on building the core parts of their applications and less on recreating features that already exist or are not feasible.

With this in mind, it is unsurprising that almost all developers (89%) report using APIs in their projects. According to our data, 74% of developers use third-party APIs while 15% state that they only use private or internal APIs. Using private/internal APIs makes it easier for developers to link their in-house applications together and ensures that only authorised personnel can access their systems and internal information. On the other hand, using third-party offerings gives them access to external expertise but introduces additional dependencies that can affect their projects.

high-quality API

74% of developers use third-party APIs

With so many developers relying on third-party APIs to expand the scope of their applications, modern services are becoming increasingly more likely to offer public APIs. However, not all APIs are created equal. Just as high-quality APIs can enhance the capabilities of a given application, adopting a low-quality API can be detrimental to its success. Implementing low-quality solutions can create a wide range of issues such as poor performance, negative user experience, and security vulnerabilities. Therefore, developers must carefully evaluate the quality of APIs before incorporating them into their applications.

In the latest edition of our global developer survey, we asked developers who use third-party APIs to identify the most important characteristics of high-quality API offerings. Our results indicate that developers consider security, documentation and sample code, reliability, ease of use, and performance to be the most important characteristics of high-quality APIs. These five qualities separate themselves from the rest as the core pillars of strength developers look for when considering third-party APIs. In fact, 89% of those who use third-party APIs mention at least one of these characteristics in association with high-quality APIs.​

Security is the most important factor in evaluating the quality of third-party APIs, according to 42% of developers. Using third-party offerings opens up a line of communication with external services that can expose their users to unauthorised access to sensitive data and other security risks. To keep up with the rapidly evolving landscape of threats, developers and modern businesses must ensure that the APIs they use are secure to protect their assets.

Developers consider security to be the most important attribute of a high-quality API

Having access to clear documentation and sample code can make it substantially easier for developers to incorporate APIs into their applications. Our data suggest that 39% of developers consider documentation and sample code to be among the most important qualities in third-party APIs.

These features allow developers to quickly understand the capabilities and limitations that a given API brings and make it easier for them to get started. This goes hand in hand with ease of use, which is mentioned by 37% of developers who use third-party APIs.

On the other end of the spectrum, reliability (38%) and performance (36%) of third-party APIs can directly impact the success of a given project. If an API proves to be unreliable, it can lead to issues ranging from minor errors to system failures and data breaches.

On the other hand, reliable APIs help developers minimise the risk of something going wrong and ensure the highest chances of success in their projects. Similarly, applications can only perform as well as the APIs they use.

Therefore, it is essential for APIs to be fast and capable of handling high volumes of requests to be used in modern applications.

high-quality API

Those who are new to the field of software development tend to work on less challenging problems and can often turn to their peers and mentors for support. As such, they are the least likely (20%) to cite documentation and sample code as an important characteristic of a high-quality API and tend to prioritise other features.

However, as they gain expertise and take on more complex projects, developers begin to appreciate the benefits that clear documentation and sample code bring to the table. In fact, 65% of developers with 16+ years of experience mention documentation and sample code among the most important characteristics of high-quality third-party APIs, surpassing even security (51%).

Highly experienced developers value API documentation and sample code significantly more than beginners

With a greater reliance on self-guided learning, experienced developers become less likely to focus on the community when evaluating the quality of third-party APIs. However, technical issues can arise regardless of experience and may be difficult to resolve or diagnose without expert-level knowledge. In turn, technical support appears to retain its above-average importance for all but the most experienced developers.

high-quality API

With more years of experience, developers gain a deeper understanding of what is essential for their projects. For some, performance may be critical, while others may focus more on ease of use. By focusing on the right characteristics of third-party APIs, developers can enhance the functionality of their applications and deliver better products.

Would you like to contribute to similar findings?

Participate in our latest wave of the Developer Nation survey!

Complete the survey to access our amazing virtual Goody Bag filled with subscriptions, resources, and more!

Sign up for the chance to win prizes, earn loyalty points, and receive updates on survey results and future opportunities.

Take the survey anonymously here

Categories
Community

Embedded Software Development

Embedded Software Development

Embedded software refers to computer programs designed to perform specific functions in systems or on hardware devices that are not traditionally considered personal computers. Embedded software is found in various electronic items and plays a critical role in the functioning of modern-day technology. These necessary systems are found in simpler appliances, such as thermostats and security cameras, as well as more complex systems like medical equipment, point of sale (bank card) terminals, automobiles, and aeroplanes.

Embedded software developers are traditionally one of the smallest software development groups. As of Q1 2023, we at SlashData estimate that developers self-identifying as embedded developers comprise only around 5% of developers worldwide, a proportion that has been relatively stable for the last two years. Despite embedded developers’ modest community size, they can be found across the globe, with the largest two population clusters being North America and Western Europe – with 18% of embedded software developers in each of the respective regions. The next highest regional group is the Middle East and Africa, which collectively accounts for 15%. 

Analysing data collected from more than 25,000 developers working in 160+ countries, we delve into the lives of embedded software developers. These developers are responsible for how humans interface with many critical technologies. Hence, understanding the landscape of those building and developing embedded systems can offer salient insight into industry trends and orient companies and developers alike as to where the field is heading. 

Embedded systems and data processing

In 2022 we noted an almost 100% increase in the number of embedded developers who describe data science or data analysis as a part of their role compared to 2021. In our most recent global developer survey, around a third of embedded software developers described their role as having a data science or data analysis component. 

Data processing and analysis are becoming more intertwined with embedded systems. One contributing factor is the growth in the number of Internet of Things (IoT) devices. Embedded software is an essential operating component of IoT devices, and as the number of IoT devices continues to multiply, managing, processing, and understanding the vast amounts of data accompanying this growth is a key challenge. Many embedded system developers appear to have recognised this trend and either adapted their roles or had their roles adapted for them to include this necessary data analysis and handling component. 

What are embedded developers working on, and what markets are they targeting?

In order to better understand the embedded developer landscape, we asked developers working in this field to describe the projects they had worked on in the last six months. We find that the most common embedded software project description is “network-connected”, mentioned by 41% of developers, or “internet-connected” (36%). Both categories are fundamental to IoT devices. ​

Furthermore, 35% of embedded software developers stated they had worked on projects that processed data, while 30% stated their projects involved data storage. This project reporting again highlights the importance of data management in the embedded software development field and reinforces the importance of data analysis and processing as part of an embedded developer’s tool kit. 

“23% of embedded developers have recently worked on projects that involved signal processing. They have, on average, 24% more experience compared to embedded developers working on other projects” 

Around a third of the projects embedded software developers worked on recently involved sensor or monitoring devices. Meanwhile, 23% of embedded developers have recently worked on projects that involved signal processing – audio, video, etc. As these types of technologies that interface with their local environment continue to evolve, they will increasingly shape how humans interact with devices and their surroundings.

Embedded developers working on sensors and monitoring and signal processing technologies have, on average, 24% more software development experience than embedded developers working on other projects (an average of 5.8 years vs 7.6 years). Embedded technologies that incorporate signal processing require complex algorithms that can be computationally intensive and require specialised knowledge. This increased knowledge requirement is reflected in the additional software development experience embedded developers working with these technologies have. ​

In addition to being slightly more experienced, embedded developers working on sensory projects utilise the C programming language significantly more than other embedded developers. Embedded developers working on sensory projects use the C language more than half the time, 54%, compared to 40% of other embedded developers. We believe the inflated use of C here is likely due to its efficiency and popularity in the field of signal processing data. 

Where is embedded software used?

Embedded software is utilised in an array of devices and for various applications. Hence, the markets that embedded software developers target are as diverse as the features the embedded software provides. We find that the most popular market is smart home appliances, targeted by 30% of embedded developers. As many IoT devices are increasingly sought after and can be found in the home – refrigerators, washing machines, doorbell cameras, etc. – this category’s lead aligns with our market observations. 

“30% of embedded software developers are targeting smart home appliances – where many IoT devices are traditionally found” 

Robotics comes in second place, with 24% of embedded developers reporting that they are targeting this market with their projects. The field of robotics heavily relies on embedded software to control movement, sensors, and environmental information processing – all crucial components for a robot’s functionality. As technology continues to advance, the field of robotics and embedded software will become even more intertwined in the development of intelligent systems that can be of benefit to various commercial markets such as manufacturing, transportation, and defence. 

Embedded Software Development

Embedded software developers are at the forefront of how humans interface with many technologies. With the increasing growth in the number of IoT devices, an increased number of devices will be connected to the internet and through networks and require embedded software to operate. This will necessitate embedded software developers to handle new demands in their workflow. We expect that these increasing expectations to come from both companies and consumers – such as the ability to process and analyse data and increased demand for device internet/network connectivity in IoT, respectively – will continue to push embedded developers to further broaden their skillset to be successful in keeping up with market requirements. 

Categories
Community

IoT and MQTT for Software Developers

IoT and MQTT for Software Developers

“Developers who stop learning get left behind. However, the ones that grow and expand with trends always eat well.”

– Kudzai Manditereza

The technology landscape is evolving, with the Internet of Things (IoT) leading the charge. IoT is transforming the way we live and work, with billions of devices generating massive amounts of data. As a software developer, it is essential to stay on top of this trend and understand the opportunities and challenges presented by this new technology.

In this three-part series, we will breakdown IoT,  MQTT, which is the defacto standard protocol powering IoT, and wrap the series up with a practical step-by-step demonstration you can follow to try IoT yourself. 

If we do our job right, at the end of this first article you will be inspired to dive deeper into IoT, and see how you can add it to your arsenal of skills. At minimun, you will be able to define IoT fundamentals, understand its components and the impact this has on software development. Additionally, we will explore the potential benefits and the challenges you may face when working with this technology.

Demystifying IoT: A Simple Definition (for Software Developers)

IoT can be a complex and often confusing topic, but it doesn’t have to be. At its core, IoT refers to the network of physical objects that are connected to the internet and can exchange data with one another. These objects, or “things,” can be anything from household appliances and wearables to industrial machinery and smart city infrastructure.

To understand IoT, it’s important to break it down into its components. An IoT system typically consists of three main components: sensors, connectivity, and data analytics. 

Sensors 

Sensors are crucial in IoT systems; they serve as the primary data collection points. They bridge the gap between the physical and digital worlds by converting real-world information such as temperature, humidity, and motion into digital information. Sensors enable IoT systems to monitor, measure, and respond to various parameters by detecting changes in the environment or devices.

Connectivity 

As stated, the primary goal of data collection from sensor devices is to share the data with other devices and data analytics applications in the network. Connectivity is the communication infrastructure that allows these devices and applications to communicate and exchange information, e.g, Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. 

In addition, for devices to make sense of the shared information, they must use a standard communication protocol. Examples of IoT communication protocols include HTTP(S), which most software developers already use, AMQP, CoAP, and MQTT, which has become the defacto IoT standard protocol. We discuss MQTT in detail in Part 2 of this series.

Data analytics 

Data analytics platforms, which are usually cloud-hosted, enable the transformation of typically vast amounts of data collected from sensors/devices into valuable information and actionable insights. The capabilities of Data Analytics platforms range from simple visualization for remote monitoring to identifying patterns, trends, and correlations within the collected data, and advanced machine learning-based use cases. 

Application of Internet of Things (IoT)

To give you a sense of what IoT looks like in the real world, below is a list of the use cases in the Commercial, and Industrial sectors.

  1. Smart Retail: IoT can be used to create personalized shopping experiences through digital signage, targeted promotions, and smart shelves that detect low inventory levels.
  2. Building Automation: IoT can enable commercial buildings to become “smart,” with automated lighting, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems that respond to occupancy and environmental conditions, improving occupant comfort and reducing energy costs.
  3. Smart Agriculture: IoT can be used to monitor crop conditions, soil health, and weather data, enabling farmers to make data-driven decisions about irrigation, fertilization, and pest control, ultimately increasing crop yields and reducing resource waste.
  4. Wearable Payments: IoT devices like smartwatches and fitness trackers can be integrated with payment systems, enabling users to make contactless payments without the need for physical cards or cash.
  5. Predictive Maintenance in Manufacturing:  By collecting and analyzing industrial equipment data, potential issues can be detected early, helping to prevent unexpected equipment failure, reduce downtime, and extend the lifespan of machinery.

Hardware Platforms for IoT Application Development

To start building an IoT application, you will need a device that provides a physical interface to sensors, allows you to write and deploy code to acquire data from those sensors, establish connectivity to the internet, and publish the data for analytics in the cloud.

Device platforms commonly used to develop and prototype IoT applications include Raspberry Pi, Arduino, ESP32, BeagleBone, and others. The selection of an IoT device platform is mostly influenced by each platform’s capabilities for prototyping different features or products. For example, some devices only support WiFi connectivity requiring you to plugin additional hardware for cellular connectivity. Some platforms can host a full operation system for executing multiple general-purpose tasks, while others are built to execute one specific task. 

Developing Software for IoT Applications

To develop software for IoT devices, you need to have a good understanding of the hardware and networking technologies involved in IoT. As a developer, there is a good chance you are already familiar with programming languages used in IoT development, such as C, Java, and Python. IoT solutions can be programmed using a variety of languages, depending on the specific needs of the project. Programming languages commonly used in IoT development at different levels of the technology stack include C, Python, Java, JavaScript, NodeJs, and C#:

Similar to other projects, developers should choose a language that is suitable for the hardware and software components of the IoT system, as well as the data analysis and visualization requirements.

Using Software Libraries for IoT App Development

As with any software project, leveraging software libraries can make the process significantly easier and efficient. In IoT, libraries can help manage the following:

  • Data gathering from common sensors on the market
  • Controlling common actuators such as motors
  • Communication protocols, 
  • Data processing
  • Security features

To use these libraries, developers need to first identify the appropriate ones for their project requirements, such as the protocol stack (e.g., MQTT, CoAP, Zigbee), device platform (e.g., Arduino, ESP32, Raspberry Pi), and cloud services (e.g., AWS IoT, Azure IoT, Google Cloud IoT).

Here’s an example of code in Python that might be used in an IoT system using a Python library for an MQTT Client. The code shows how to connect an IoT device to an MQTT messaging server and subscribes to receive messages of interest that are being sent to the same server by other IoT devices. 

import paho.mqtt.client as mqtt
# Set up MQTT client
client = mqtt.Client()
client.connect("broker.hivemq.com", 1883, 60)
# Define callback function to handle incoming messages
def on_message(client, userdata, message):
    print("Message received: " + message.payload.decode())
# Subscribe to topic
client.subscribe("iot/devices/sensor1")
# Start the MQTT client loop
client.loop_start()
# Continuously listen for incoming messages
while True:
    pass

As previously mentioned, developers can create IoT applications able to interact with physical devices, gather data from sensors, and even automate tasks. IoT development involves a combination of software development, hardware design, and networking, so developers need to be well-versed in all these areas to create effective IoT applications.

IoT Software Development: Similar But Different

 The software for IoT differs from traditional software in several ways:

  1. Resource constraints: IoT devices often have limited computing power, memory, and storage compared to traditional computing devices. As a result, IoT software must be designed to use resources efficiently and effectively.
  2. Real-time requirements: Many IoT applications have real-time requirements, meaning that data must be processed and analyzed quickly, often in milliseconds or less. This requires a different approach to software design and development.
  3. Distributed nature: IoT systems often involve many interconnected devices that must work together to accomplish a task. This requires a distributed system architecture and a focus on communication and coordination between devices.
  4. Security: IoT devices connect the internet to the physical world, and security breaches can have life-threatening consequences. Therefore, IoT software must be designed with security in mind, including data encryption, access control, and secure communication protocols.
  5. Heterogeneous environment: IoT devices can run on a variety of hardware and software platforms, which can make software development and deployment more complex. Developers must be able to work with a wide range of platforms and technologies.

Understanding these differences, as well as IoT components, allows you to leverage each of their powers and create innovative and impactful applications that improve people’s lives and transform entire industries.

An example of a possible career path in IoT is IoT Engineer.  An IoT engineer is a professional who specializes in designing, developing, and maintaining Internet of Things (IoT) systems. They are responsible for creating the software and hardware components of IoT systems and ensuring that they work together seamlessly to achieve the desired results.

Conclusion

Overall, learning about IoT can be challenging, but it’s also gratifying. By following these steps and staying dedicated to your learning journey, you can develop the skills and knowledge you need to succeed in this exciting field.

We encourage software developers to explore IoT and take advantage of its new opportunities. By collaborating with other experts in the field, leveraging open-source technologies, and continuously learning new skills, you can make a significant impact in the world of IoT and contribute to building a more connected and sustainable future.

So what are you waiting for? Start exploring IoT today and unleash your potential as a software developer! 

Now that you know all about IoT, in part two of this series we are going to introduce you to MQTT, a technology that has become the defacto standard of data movement in IoT with applications spanning from Facebook Messenger, Connected Cars, Connected Factories, Wearables, and Home Automation etc.