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7 Tips on How to Win In Our Referral Program

Our referral program counts over 2,800 developers who are quick, smart, and masterfully spreading the survey with their local developer groups and communities. We know that all of you are very keen on winning the top referral prizes like $ 200, $700 or $1,000 USD. But only the top 50 will score rewards. So we recently spoke with one of our top 3 referrers from the previous survey, and he was cool enough to share a few tips on how to climb the leaderboard faster. Read, learn, and apply!

1. Spread your influence. Twitter is cool but in some countries Whatsapp, Telegram, and Discord developer groups are more eager to back you up and take the survey to support you. Test a mix of different apps and sites.

2. Be intentional. It’s ok if you share the survey occasionally to boost your ranking. But if you want to get to the top, it’s worth planning ahead. Try to be active on specific days or times when you know other developers will be scrolling through their phones. 

3. Learn about the people before posting. If you’re posting in a new developer group, forum, or Slack channel, it’s worth getting to know the vibe of the group first. Some are more casual, some are all about learning, some love memes. When you share the survey with them, try to blend in as a native. 

4. Some people love to hear about the survey prizes, some don’t. That’s ok. You can focus on saying that the survey is actually a good learning opportunity to discover new tools and platforms.

5. Use the promo material we have prepared for you. Feeling a bit confused about how to promote the survey? Don’t know what to say? Pick a few tweets, banners or promo texts & grab your custom promo link to share with other developers.

6. Remind people that they need to complete the survey, so as to count towards your referrals. Perhaps some have started the survey and paused. Give them a gentle reminder to go back and finish answering the questions.

7. Mention that the survey is closing on August 4th. It helps when people know that there’s a deadline and they need to act fast.

8. We’re donating $0.10 for every response to a charity that developers can select when they enter the survey. That’s a nice way to motivate people to support you and our survey too!

Hope these quick tips will inspire you and keep you in the game so that you can climb the leaderboard and win our top 50 prizes. Just remember to play fair and square and only promote the survey to real developers and software creators (sorry, you can’t ask your mom or cousin to click randomly!). Read our Referral Terms & conditions to make sure you’re playing by the rules. Good luck!

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10 books on computer vision and cryptocurrency you should read

In our latest Developer Nation Pulse report we shared data on the top five emerging areas of interest to developers.

Around half of developers say they are working on, learning about, or interested computer vision, according to the insights from our Q1 2021 global survey of over 17,000 developers. Similarly, 45% are interested in cryptocurrencies (e.g. Bitcoin).

Recommended computer vision and cryptocurrency books

However, of the developers engaged with computer vision, only 15% are currently working on the technology. Similarly, only 14% are currently working on cryptocurrencies. One in four developers are currently learning about computer vision, while 29% are learning about cryptocurrencies.

So if you belong to these group, the following book recommendations might be just the thing you’ve been looking. This post was created in partnership with our friends at Packt.

Computer Vision books

Modern Computer Vision with PyTorch

Explore deep learning concepts and implement over 50 real-world image applications.

What reviews say:

“I felt the book is very well structured and compiled. Unless you’re looking for something very very specific, you’d be able to find techniques/implementations for any and all types of problems you are working on. They cover algorithms and implementations of basic neural networks, all the way upto RNNs and reinforcement learning with PyTorch. The breadth covered by this book on the number of techniques and algorithms is really amazing.”

Mastering Computer Vision with TensorFlow 2.x

Build advanced computer vision applications using machine learning and deep learning techniques

What reviews say:

“There are many books out there / but this book stands out – very clear explanation of codes and contents, lots of detailed explanations for object detection, classification, visual search, matching and training in cloud.”

PyTorch Computer Vision Cookbook

Over 70 recipes to master the art of computer vision with deep learning and PyTorch 1.x

“This book is good for beginners to learn about writing deep learning model in PyTorch. Book goes from basic linear model to processing videos in PyTorch and covers variety of use cases e.g. use of GANs, Style transfer project.”

Applied Deep Learning and Computer Vision for Self-Driving Cars

Build autonomous vehicles using deep neural networks and behavior-cloning techniques

What reviews say:

“This book is about how to apply deep learning knowledge to solve self-driving car problems. The technologies mainly focus on computer vision areas. It gives readers lots of code samples, which can help readers to understand the concept in each chapter.”

TensorFlow 2.0 Computer Vision Cookbook

Implement machine learning solutions to overcome various computer vision challenges

What reviews say:

“By far, this is one of the best books to understand how to apply deep learning in the field of computer vision. The concepts have been clearly explained. It covers almost everything from image classification, image segmentation, object detection, etc”

Raspberry Pi Computer Vision Programming, Second Edition

Design and implement computer vision applications with Raspberry Pi, OpenCV, and Python 3

What reviews say:

“This book was very helpful for me because it covers a wide variety of computer vision topics and offers lots of well thought out code examples using Python, opencv, matplotlib, numpy and other computer vision software. I followed his examples on my RPi and found that they helped me get the format and arguments of opencv commands correctly to include little things like commas, parenthesis, brackets, optional arguments and the like.”

Hands-On Image Generation with TensorFlow

A practical guide to generating images and videos using deep learning

What reviews say:

“The book is a great quickstart into representation with neural networks. (I also read it more deeply at times and it is great for that as well. I myself have experience with high-throughput large scale autoencoders with TensorFlow and building Facial Recognition applications. I appreciated this book a lot.)”

Cryptocurrencies books for developers

Practical Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain

A guide to converging blockchain and AI to build smart applications for new economies

What reviews say:

“Addressing such large topics as artificial intelligence and blockchain at best is a very serious endeavor. Whereas blockchain after a decade plus of existence has developed a useful understanding within its marketplace, that is not at all true of artificial intelligence, better just AI. AI is now well beyond 6 decades of existence as a topic and yet remains in an evolving state with much debate and speculation worldwide, especially over ethical and scope issues. So given that the reader of this book may be either one-of or some combination of a professional scientist, a developer or simply someone wanting to learn, then yes, Ganesh Prasad Kumble’s Practical Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain book is both a good and useful read.”

Blockchain Development for Finance Projects

Building next-generation financial applications using Ethereum, Hyperledger Fabric, and Stellar

What reviews say:

“This book is for developers who want to learn blocking technology by building financial applications. Kudos to the author on providing coding examples and following it with explanation. Overall it is a good book on Ethereum development and I would recommend it for anyone who wants to learn Ethereum blockchain by building fintech applications.”

Securing Blockchain Networks like Ethereum and Hyperledger Fabric

Learn advanced security configurations and design principles to safeguard Blockchain networks

What reviews say:

“This book is for blockchain developers, security professionals, and Ethereum and Hyperledger developers who are looking to implement security in blockchain platforms and ensure secure data management using an example-driven approach. Basic knowledge of blockchain concepts will be beneficial.”

Is there a book or expert that you would recommend to others interested in cryptocurrency or computer vision? Do share in the comments.

Our latest developer survey is live. Let us know which emerging technology you’ll be exploring in 2021.

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Hello, world. Meet Developer Nation!

It’s a new era for our community, Developer Economics is now Developer Nation.

Over the last ten years we’ve gathered over 40,000 developers with one thing in common: an unyielding curiosity about what the future holds for software builders. Together with all of you we’ve run 20 global developer surveys, co-created over 300 blog posts, read over 20 reports, pondered over 300 graphs and tried to make sense of the emerging trends in the developer world and what they mean for you and your projects.

Now it’s time to reveal a new chapter. We want to be more than just a survey, a report or a newsletter you interact with from time to time. It’s time to shift the focus from us to you – a diverse group of curious and ambitions software creators who want more from the ecosystem: more support from the platforms, more value for your time, and more chances to learn from each other.

Why Developer Nation?

For the last 10 years we were known as Developer Economics. It helped us earned the trust of tens of thousands of developers over the years. But it’s not helping us resonate with many, many more software creators out there. The “Economics” part especially. We have evolved beyond analysing revenue models for developers. We’ve grown by mapping trends across a wider ecosystem of developer tools, platforms, technologies, and programs. The future is about helping all software creators (developers and no-coders alike) influence how the software is built.

We approached the new name from different angles: blending concepts, metaphors, acronyms, dev jargon, pop culture, creative spelling, crunchy suffixes, Latin words, fringe Greek gods, and more. We came up with 157 name ideas! We then asked around 1,000 of our most loyal members for a feedback. Developer Nation is the name that stood out the most with you. It was associated with trust and excitement.

With a new name comes a new responsibility

Our vision is a software development ecosystem that listens, empowers, and supports software creators to pursue continuous learning, build future-forward solutions without compromises. We want to help you feel confident in your technology choices and included in the conversation about the future of the ecosystem.

We pledge to do this through a global research, sharing with you trustworthy data about emerging software trends, and offering you new opportunities to connect with the people at the service of software builders.

How can you get more involved?

We’ll be testing new programs and channels through which you can connect with other software creators and platform leaders to exchange ideas and experiences.

We want to give you more space and opportunities to speak about the topics that you find relevant and other software builders will care about:

  • What’s in your toolbox?
  • What was your journey to becoming a software creator like? Your biggest mistakes and “a-ha!” moments?
  • Which software development trends need to be questioned and which deserve more attention, in your expert opinion?
  • Which books / podcasts / events / blogs / people inspire you?
  • What projects are you working on and how can our community help you test, give feedback, and earn users or followers?

Find out how you can get involved here.

We’ll still invite you to participate in our global surveys twice a year.

We’d also love for you to read our blog, reports, and newsletter.

It’s a feature, not a bug

Some of our links and form still refer to developereconomics.com and your user profile is still a bit of work-in-progress. Hang in there, we’ll get it sorted!

Say hello to our team!

Last but not least, it’s about time you met the people behind the screens who want to turn this into a real community!

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7 DevOps books to read in 2021

If you are looking to learn more about Ansible, Azure, Docker, Terraform, Kubernetes, and their roles in DevOps, then this blog post is for you. We continue our series of must-read books with 7 DevOps books to read in 2021, as recommended by our friends at Packt.

Azure DevOps Explained

Get started with Azure DevOps and develop your DevOps practices

What reviews say:

” In my opinion, it is definitely one of the greatest books I ever read for DevOps.
Although I am Azure DevOps certified, I really enjoy reading this book and it gives me an extra overview of what I have learned.
It is well structured and the fact that is simple to read and follow along makes it more attractive. “

Terraform Cookbook

Efficiently define, launch, and manage Infrastructure as Code across various cloud platforms

What reviews say:

” I had the chance to read this book and I was really pleased by its content.
noting that this is not the first book or terraform material that I read, I would say that this book contains valuable structured information with also access to code used in various chapters.
it is certainly an asset for those starting their journey with terraform.”

Practical Ansible 2

Automate infrastructure, manage configuration, and deploy applications with Ansible 2.9

What reviews say:

This book is probably perfect for someone with reasonable experience. It was what I needed as a second book to get a good look at the ecosystem and a second opinion of how to use it. “

Kubernetes – A Complete DevOps Cookbook

Build and manage your applications, orchestrate containers, and deploy cloud-native services

What reviews say:

” Great coverage of common Kubernetes and DevOps tools. I’ve learned about some of the tools I haven’t used before like Jenkins X, GitLab, Fossa, Trivy, Litmus Chaos etc.
Although some of the long YAML files are provided in the GitHub repository I got the digital version, makes it easier to copy paste. “

Kubernetes and Docker – An Enterprise Guide

Effectively containerize applications, integrate enterprise systems, and scale applications in your enterprise

What reviews say:

“If you have worked on Kubernetes at all, you have experienced the frustration of trying to go beyond a cluster that has a single config file and a simple layer 7 load-balancer using NGINX. This book does truly target not only the enterprise user, but any person that wants to learn topics that make Kubernetes a complete offering.

I have been looking into the external-dns project on my list for a few months, but I never got around to doing much – Much to my surprise, when I was reading the topics covered in the book, it mentioned Services and external-dns. Chapter 6, alone, to me is one reason to buy the book since it explained and showed me how to install Metallb with external-dns in easy to understand terms and hands-on configuration.”

Learning DevOps

The complete guide to accelerate collaboration with Jenkins, Kubernetes, Terraform and Azure DevOps

” I would suggest reading through each section before you work along with the steps. There’s lots of references to other resources that are not necessarily part of the topics being discussed ”

Docker for Developers

Develop and run your application with Docker containers using DevOps tools for continuous delivery

” When reading articles, tutorials and even books, that is very common that at the end of the reading you struggle about how to translate that to a real production situation. Believe me, this book is different. You get to the end with a sense that you are very likely to know what are the next steps to apply what you learned to your existent or new projects. And this means a lot. The book has some great balance from history, concepts, example and practice. ”

What books have helped you deepen your knowledge of DevOps? Do share in the comments. Looking for more books to read? We have also shared recommended Backend and Frontend books.

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Five backend books you should read in 2021.

Powering up your backend knowledge? Our friends at Packt have shared five backend books you should read in 2021.

Node Cookbook, Fourth Edition

Discover solutions, techniques, and best practices for server-side web development with Node.js 14

What reviews say:

“Want to learn Node.js, brush up on your skills, or discover the latest features of Node 14 and beyond? This book is for you! Written by a senior developer and Red Hatter, With a thorough presentation of everything Node, Bethany Griggs delivers from cover to cover in this latest Node Cookbook edition.

Node.js Web Development, Fifth Edition

Server-side web development made easy with Node 14 using practical examples

What reviews say:

“This book is great. I had some knowledge about full-stack JavaScript, but this book has already taught me a lot. I wouldn’t say that this book is for a complete beginner to software development (coding), but it’s definitely good if you need to deepen your understanding of JavaScript, or if you’re interested in getting started with JavaScript from another backend language like Python, C#, Ruby, etc.”

ASP.NET Core 5 and React

Full-stack web development using .NET 5, React 17, and TypeScript 4

What reviews say:

“The book had a very methodical approach to building single-page applications through React. I am familiar with React and .NET separately and partly why I could pick up the concepts in the book faster but I believe otherwise too, things are laid out very clearly. Recommend it for beginners.”

Full-Stack React, TypeScript, and Node

Build cloud-ready web applications using React 17 with Hooks and GraphQL

What reviews say:

“Nook has a philosophy of “learning by doing” “

Building Vue.js Applications with GraphQL

Develop a complete full-stack chat app from scratch using Vue.js, Quasar Framework, and AWS Amplify

What reviews say:

“This book is a fantastic deep dive into building an end-to-end application on AWS. I really like the fact that he dove deep into many topic areas, showing how to tie everything together to build something that is a real-world use case. The information in this book can also be used in many other areas so the knowledge is very transferable to other scenarios and use cases.”

What titles do you recommend? Share your thoughts in the comments.  Looking for more inspiration? Here are more book recommendations.

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Developer prizes: Look who’s won in our 20th-anniversary survey prize draw and Referral Program.

We’re super excited to announce the winners of our 20th Developer Economics prize draw. Thanks to over 19,000 of you who took the time to contribute to the developer ecosystem!

If you’re new to our prize draws, developers who take our surveys earn 100 points for every new survey completed, plus 10 points for providing their feedback about the survey. You can see the list of benefits and rewards here.

General Prize Draw

The State of AR/VR Survey Prize Draw

Exclusive Community Prize Draw for members with 801+ points

exclusive community prize draw 801+ points

Exclusive Community Prize Draw for members with 801+ points – Prizes: Vouchers, branded stickers, water bottles, surprise swag, and socks

Exclusive Community Prize Draw for members with 501+ points Prizes: Vouchers, surprise swag, branded stickers and socks

Exclusive Community Prize Draw for members with 301+ points Prizes: Branded surprise swag, stickers and socks

Extra Prize Draws

Early Bird Prize Draws

Christmas Advent Draws

Last Minute Extra Prize Draw

We’ve reached out to winners directly via email. If you recognise your email address but believe you haven’t been contacted yet, you can contact us here.

The lists above only include prize-draw winners and not runner-ups. If the prize draw winners do not claim their prizes within 10 workings of us contacting them, then runner-ups will be invited to claim them instead. 

Special thanks to our prize sponsors SitePoint, DeveloperWeek, Basecode, Sketchfab, HTB Academy and @Coding for donating prizes to the survey! Are you a company interested in giving away a prize to developers in our next survey? Get in touch!

If you’re not a winner, don’t despair, our next survey, our 21st will be live later this year. We’re already on the hunt for some amazing prizes, and open to your suggestions. What prizes would you like to win? Drop us an email or send us a Tweet.

To ensure that you are notified when our next survey is live, sign up. Don’t forget to make sure the survey notification option is ticked.

Referral Program Winners

Over 2,600 developers joined our Referral Program and 270 were especially competitive in promoting our survey to their communities. Thanks to everyone who took on the challenge! If you want to test your influencer abilities in our next survey, make sure you join our Referral Program. Without further do, here are the top 50 winners:

Want to take part in our next surveys referral program? You can sign up here.

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Five frontend books you should read in 2021

What skills are you planning to learn as a frontend developer this year? Our friends at Packt have shared five frontend books you should read in 2021. 

React and React Native

A complete hands-on guide to modern web and mobile development with React.js

What reviews say:

“I have books in my library older than most of the people I work with, maybe 200+ at this point and I would put this among the top 10 for content. Great book if you’re looking to get into React and/or React Native and the follow-along code samples actually work – big kudos!”

Svelte 3 Up and Running

A fast-paced introductory guide to building high-performance web applications with SvelteJS.

What reviews say:

“This is not just a book about Svelte. Sure, you do build an app using Svelte 3, and while building it the author gradually (and with clear examples and explanations) introduces the concepts and syntax of the Svelte framework.

However, what I enjoyed the most about this book was how it was a practical guide for building static web apps. You’ll start with some overview of why static web apps (or JAMstack apps) are powerful, and then you get on to building. From setting up VS Code, all the way to production… and even with automated testing and DevOps!”

Learning Angular, Third Edition

A no-nonsense beginner’s guide to building web applications with Angular 10 and TypeScript.

What reviews say:

“This book is typically useful for any front-end or full-stack software engineer who is completely new to the web development or has some JavaScript web development experiences but wishes to jump into the Angular world playing with the typescript.”

Modern Web Testing with TestCafe

Get to grips with end-to-end web testing with TestCafe and JavaScript.

What reviews say:

“This is a very good book for

– Beginners who are looking for step by step clear instructions to use TestCafe right from setting up the environment all the way to writing expert level e2e automated tests

Current TestCafe users to learn TestCafe internals and best practices.

The other aspect I like about this book is, it also provides compares between Selenium and TestCafe. This is very helpful for current Selenium users trying to switch to TestCafe and best use the benefits TestCafe provides.”

Vue.js 3 Cookbook

Discover actionable solutions for building modern web apps with the latest Vue features and TypeScript.

What reviews say:

“This book is a good introduction to Vue.js 3.0 and the main features which vue.js contains. The book contains a lot of examples, which gives you a good overview of the different possibilities that you have when working with vue.

For example, it discusses about vue files, plugins, vuex store, mixins, decorators, props, slots, vuelidate, and vue router, among others.”

Have you read any of these books already? Do you have other titles that you’d recommend? Share your thoughts in the comments.  Looking for more inspiration? Here are more book recommendations.

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Eight must-read books for developers in 2021

What are the top books on your reading list this season? Whether you’re learning a new skill or adding depth to your existing knowledge in a particular development area, it’s always a good idea to get a few more recommendations to your list. We’ve teamed up with Packt to help you discover eight must-read books that you need to add to your collection in 2021.

All Packt eBooks and Videos are for $5! A key part of Packt’s mission is to unlock new opportunities for developers and help put software to work in new ways. They want this year’s $5 campaign to help developers unlock new opportunities.

Cloud and Admin

Azure DevOps Explained

Implement real-world DevOps and cloud deployment scenarios using Azure Repos, Azure Pipelines, and other Azure DevOps tools.

What reviews say:

“The book is very carefully walking the reader through everything you need to know to become an Azure DevOps expert. I use DevOps all the time to build and manage Business Central AL development and found the book very useful.”

Kubernetes and Docker – An Enterprise Guide

Apply Kubernetes beyond the basics of Kubernetes clusters by implementing IAM using OIDC and Active Directory, Layer 4 load balancing using MetalLB, advanced service integration, security, auditing, and CI/CD.

What reviews say:

“This book covers most of the topics when an enterprise would like to adopt Kubernetes. What’s more, you hardly can find coverage on these topics in the market!”

Coding and tools

Learning C# by Developing Games with Unity 2020

Get to grips with coding in C# and build simple 3D games with Unity from the ground up with this updated fifth edition of the bestselling guide.

What reviews say:

“If you’re serious about learning to build games in Unity your progress will be advanced rapidly if you first have a solid foundation of understanding of C#. This book explains the necessary information to start understanding and using C# to develop games in Unity. After reading this you’ll have enough context to begin tearing down other people’s code and repurposing it to build your own functionalities for your game.”

iOS 14 Programming for Beginners

Learn iOS app development and work with the latest Apple development tools. Explore the latest features of Xcode 12 and the Swift 5.3 programming language in this updated fifth edition.

What reviews say:

“The author does a good job to capture an effective, quick, and breezy reading/learning/code-along experience. The explanations are concise and easy to follow, although I would imagine a complete newbie to programming entirely might ask a lot of questions in the earlier chapters.”

Data

Learn Amazon SageMaker

Quickly build and deploy machine learning models without managing infrastructure, and improve productivity using Amazon SageMaker’s capabilities such as Amazon SageMaker Studio, Autopilot, Experiments, Debugger, and Model Monitor.

What reviews say:

“This is a comprehensive book for a data scientist looking to use the AWS ecosystem for machine learning with a focus on Sagemaker. I like the way it is organized which is practical and matches a typical life-cycle of a project.”

Data Engineering with Python 

Build, monitor, and manage real-time data pipelines to create data engineering infrastructure efficiently using open-source Apache projects.

What reviews say:

“Data Engineering With Python provides a solid overview of pipelining and database connections for those tasked with processing both batch and stream data flows. Not only for the data miners, this book will be useful as well in a CI/CD environment using Kafka and Spark. It’s very readable and contains lots of practical, illustrative examples.”

Programming

40 Algorithms Every Programmer Should Know: Hone your problem

Learn algorithms for solving classic computer science problems with this concise guide covering everything from fundamental algorithms, such as sorting and searching, to modern algorithms used in machine learning and cryptography.

What reviews say:

“Who the book is aimed at: if you self-identify as a data scientist, serious algorithms specialist, or even the quant type, then you won’t be disappointed! If you’re just starting in the field, the author has done the hard work of selecting some of the commonly used techniques & algorithms in the field today.”

Learn Quantum Computing with Python and IBM Quantum Experience

A step-by-step guide to learning the implementation and associated methodologies in quantum computing with the help of the IBM Quantum Experience, Qiskit, and Python that will have you up and running and productive in no time.

What reviews say:

“I really like this book. It takes a step-by-step approach to introduce the reader to the IBM Q Experience, to the basics underlying quantum computing, and to the reality of the noise involved in the current machines. This introduction is technical and shows the user how to use the IBM system either directly through the GUI on their website or by running Python code on one’s own machine.”

Have you read any of these already? Leave your impressions in the comments and don’t forget to share the list with other developers in your circle!


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10 Minute Comprehensive Guide on Modern Software Development with Agile Methods

When it comes to custom software development, Agile methodology is preferred because it focuses on the requirement of the customer and fast delivery.  The principles are applied to small software products developed by a single team, as well as big ones developed by programs that consist of more than ten teams.

The goal of any software development company today, as well as the clientele, is producing software at the lowest cost possible, in the shortest time and the best quality. The right planning and management of the development process and the correct methodology are critical to achieve your business goal. The Agile Methodology is a growing trend that’s exponentially growing.

Agile methodologies have helped many business organizations respond to the evolving market conditions fast, boost customer satisfaction, and boost efficiency. Still, so many organizations are facing hardships in comprehending and adopting Agile. For your brand to overcome the challenges, let’s check out an extensive guide explaining everything about modern software development with Agile methods.

Who is this Guide for?

This guide is intended for:

✔ anyone who wants to learn all the ins and outs of the agile methodologies

✔ anyone who seeks out knowledge on what agile is and why it’s monstrously awesome

✔ anyone who’s afraid of adapting the methodologies in their next software project

Your Comprehensive Modern Software Development with Agile

An Overview

Most of you probably already know that Agile has taken the world of software development and testing by storm. The majority of organizations are already practicing the software development methodology in some form. Agile, in simplest terms, is a way of managing projects.

It’s worth noting that although the approach could be used for just about anything, it was nonetheless founded originally in India. Unlike the Waterfall approach in which all the requirements are gathered from the start, and design is all done next, and then development is executed, the Agile method enables designers, developers, analysts, and stakeholders to work together simultaneously.

Traditional Waterfall Approach Limitations

The Waterfall Model was presented first by Winston Royce back in 1970, and it was intended to be used in developing government projects. It was called a waterfall because of its cascading activities with phases, which keep the development process going forward. Because of this nature, the model does not leave room for doing unexpected changes.

Making changes would be difficult and demands a lot of work as well as a waste of money and precious time. Furthermore, it also excludes the client from the project because its focus is mainly on the internal team. Today, clients want to be involved in the development process as much as possible, and since the Waterfall Model pays so little attention to the client involvement, this could mean high change requests in the development later on.

Agile—How it Works

In contrast to the traditional Waterfall Method, Agile Methodologies adhere to the iterative approach. Basically, Agile software development involves several cycles, typically called ‘sprints,’ which are individually designed, developed, and tested. To put it simply, consider every sprint as a miniature project with its own phases of design, backlog, development, testing, and deployment within a predefined work scope.

A possibly deliverable product is shipped at the end of every sprint. Simply, with the completion of each iteration, new features are being added to the main software, resulting in software growth.

Agile Misapprehensions

Even though Agile has been majorly adopted all over the world, still there remain misconceptions about the approach, including the following:

1. It’s very different

Agile could be an entirely new concept to your organization and the entire team. It also demands a bit of rewiring regarding how all stakeholders would remain on the same page during development. Nevertheless, all companies that adopt the methodology know that the new approach runs the entire development cycle smoothly and consistently.

2. It’s unpredictable

It could indeed be unpredictable at times. But it’s the same with other development approaches. Honestly, it’s entirely impossible to determine what the software should be at the start of the development exactly.

Nonetheless, unlike the traditional approach, Agile embraces unpredictability and uses it to its own advantage that leads to producing better outputs.

3. All features are prioritized by developers

There are still some people who believe that with Agile, developers decide what’s relevant, what must be implemented, and when. However, this is far from the truth since, at the start of every sprint, there is always an extensive spring meeting in which all stakeholders get to participate and decide the features that would be developed and delivered.

4. More short-term-focused

It’s hard to understand why, but some still believe that since the Agile approach splits up projects into short sprints or iterations, it doesn’t consider the long-term goals. The Agile methodology, in truth, provides a lot more benefits and provides a better way than the traditional one. Furthermore, earlier testing lets you indirectly make better decisions for your long-term goals.

5. Works only for Software and Developers

Indeed, it started out in the tech industry, but today, as it benefits an organization as a whole, it’s widely accepted even in non-software industries, such as in the field of communication, manufacturing, healthcare, and so on.

The Actual Benefits of the Agile Methodology

Today, a software development company uses the Agile methodology to stay competitive. Majority of clients anywhere in the world demand that their software solutions be developed using the methodology. Why? Because of the many benefits that it brings to the table. Check out these benefits.

1. Business Value Concentration

One of the major benefits of Agile is an increased concentration of focus on the delivery of strategic business value through the involvement of business stakeholders in the process. With this, the development team understands what matters most and could deliver the features that provide the most value to the brand.

2. Enhanced Quality

Another of the great benefits of Agile is the improved quality of a product. By dividing projects into manageable units, the team could focus on high-quality software development, high-quality testing, and collaboration. Moreover, by creating frequent builds and doing reviews and testing on every iteration, quality is enhanced by quickly finding and fixing defects, as well as determining mismatches in the expectation early on.

3. Engagement of Stakeholders

Agile provides numerous opportunities for the engagement of the stakeholders and the team before, during, and after every sprint. Through involving various stakeholders each step of the way, there’s a higher collaboration degree between teams. The team will have more opportunities to genuinely understand the vision of a business, early delivery of working software, and boosts stakeholders’ trust often.

4. Predictable and Early Delivery

By using fixed, time-boxed Sprints of 1-4 weeks’ schedule, new features are quickly and frequently delivered, with a high predictability level. Also, this provides a chance to beta test or release software earlier than planned if there’s enough business value.

5. Enables Change

Unlike the Waterfall method, one of the key benefits of Agile is that it enables change. While the team has to remain focused on delivering an agreed-to subset of product features on every iteration, there’s a chance to refine and reprioritize the overall product backlog in a constant manner. Changed or new backlogs could be planned for the next iteration, providing a chance to introduce changes in a few weeks.

6. Transparency

Clients are involved throughout the software development project. This could include prioritizing iteration planning, features, review sessions, or frequent software builds that contain new features. This nonetheless requires the customers to understand that they’re looking at a work in progress in exchange for the added transparency benefit.

7. Predictable Schedule and Costs

Since each Sprint is a fixed duration, the cost is predictable and restricted to the amount of work that could be done by the team in a fixed-schedule time box. Together with the estimates given before every Sprint, the company could easily understand the approximate cost of every feature, which boosts decision making about prioritizing the features, and the need for more iterations.

Popular Agile Methods

Every organization differs, and so the internal and external factors that they face. Therefore, to meet the different organization requirements, let’s check out a couple of the most popular Agile methods. Which methodology works for you best would depend entirely on your internal and external factors.

Scrum

It’s a popular agile management method focusing on defining the major features and its objectives at the start of each sprint. Putting it simply, Scrum was introduced to minimize the overall risk in software development while providing faster value as well. Basically, it begins with the story or requirements, explaining how the particular features should work and should be tested.

Some of the most popular Scrum tools that help in increasing the teams’ productivity level are – Jira, Nutcache, monday.com, and ClickUp.  To manage teams & projects following Scrum methodology, you can choose monday.com. While on the other hand, Jira can also be your best choice for project management and creating customized work reports.

Benefits of Using Scrum Methodology

  • Increase in project visibility
  • Manage different priorities
  • Effective usage of money & time

Kanban

Originally, Kanban was developed by Toyota because of their need to boost factory productivity. It’s a very seamless, Agile methodology that could be defined as a prioritized, big to-do list. The requirements in Kanban, just like Scrum, are monitored by their present status as well, including in development, to-do, in a test, and delivery. 

Kanban tools offer the best services to software developers and project managers. They provide Kanban boards for the development teams. These tools are – Scrumwise, Kanbanery, Volerro, and Planview LeanKit.

Benefits of Using Kanban Methodology

  • Increases efficiency & productivity
  • Reduces work time
  • Continuous delivery approach

Lean Development

The Lean development methodology is created by Toyota and is used for the software development process. It offers conceptual frameworks and principles that enable software developers to apply the Agile development approach to their projects. This methodology’s seven essential principles are – quality development, differing commitments, fast delivery, deleting things that are not important, optimization, and respecting the team. 

Lean development offers some fantastic tools like Kaizen, Value Stream Mapping, 5S, and Focus PDCA. These tools enable the teams to improve efficiency and production levels.

Benefits of Using Lean Development Methodology

  • Strengthens knowledge
  • Optimizes value-stream
  • Eliminates delay in engineering  

Extreme Programming (XP)

Extreme programming is another very popular Agile development framework used by software development companies for various dimensions. This methodology follows the values like – simplicity, courage, respect, feedback, and communication to provide a perfect solution to the customers and satisfy them. The teams following XP methodology for their projects can choose any tool from – Project Planning & Tracking System, ExtremePlanner, and Targetprocess. Besides this, if you are a Java developer, you can select any tool from – JUnit, Maven & AntHill, and Cactus. For the .Net developers, the options are – NUnit and NAnt.

Benefits of Using XP Methodology

  • Increases product quality
  • Early product delivery
  • Empowers the team

Crystal

Crystal is a methodology that comes with different variations like Crystal Red, Crystal Orange, Crystal Yellow, and Crystal Clear. These variations specify the number of team members working on a project. It has a different range from 8 to 1000 (Clear to Red). Crystal methodology works on principles like – skills, community, talent, communication, and interactions. 

Benefits of Using Crystal Methodology

  • Flexible
  • Fewer team members required
  • Fixed-rate contract

Conclusion

Evidence reveals that the Agile methodology is very effective in modern software development these days. For most business organizations, the business and people’s results make the methodology well worth the effort.

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Tips

Productivity tips busy developers need to know

Software development is a dynamic field. This has always meant that it’s essential for developers to take an active approach, and stay on top of changes. And that, in turn, means that the best developers tend to have reliable ways of keeping themselves productive.

In 2020, this trait — being able to stay productive — is arguably more important than ever. Numerous industries related to software development have taken hits, and many developers are working under different conditions than they’re used to. The ones who are best able to keep up their standard and complete their projects are the ones who are going to handle these challenges most effectively. And that leads us to our main focus: a few productivity tips busy developers need to keep in mind.

Eliminate Distractions

This is a general tip for anyone working from home, like so many developers are doing today. Basically, when you’re working from home, anything from family members and roommates, to television, to your own mobile devices can become a serious distraction, and detract from productivity. Fortunately, avoiding this issue is a simple matter of discipline. Creative Bloq posted tips on avoiding distractions that can help give you an idea of what to focus on. The best ideas they highlighted include getting comfortable physically, closing unnecessary apps, and shutting yourself into a home office all as ways to start walling yourself off from distractions.

Frankly, we see all of these as part of one bigger tip: establishing a home workspace. Particularly these days, with more people working from home, it’s important to have an area where you can be comfortable and able to focus on projects. For starters, we’d recommend an ergonomic desk and chair and a piece of lounge furniture (even a beanbag can be brilliant). Make sure temperature control and lighting are available to you. And if possible, bring in some natural light and plants. All of this will make the workspace cosy and liveable, allowing you to feel your best, focus, and stay put without feeling shut in. With a space like this, you’ll be certain to see a spike in productivity.

Schedule (Including Breaks)

In just about any situation — working from home or otherwise — a clear schedule can boost productivity in a few different ways. A Verizon Connect piece on how to work intelligently explored this idea, suggesting (rightly) that scheduling every task does two things. First, the article said, scheduling gives you a clear picture of what you have to do in a given day; second, it gives you a clear path toward a small sense of accomplishment when you complete outlined tasks. These benefits can absolutely lead to more productivity by software developers.

How you schedule will depend somewhat on your specific work and the projects you have on hand. But we recommend breaking things down (something we’ll speak on more below), and writing your schedule out in a format that allows you to cross off tasks. Even a simple Excel sheet or note-taking app (such as Evernote, OneNote, or even a simple but perfectly functional Apple Notes) can serve as a scheduling book, where you can lay out each day’s activity and cross items off as you fulfill them.

Break Down Projects

As you go about scheduling, and looking for that little sense of accomplishment you get by moving through tasks, it’s also a good idea to break down projects into parts. This might not always be doable, but in development there are often ways to segment jobs into different stages. This can first and foremost make a job seem less formidable, and make you more willing to dive in and start doing the work. But it also leads to more of that sense that you’re checking things off your list and progressing successfully through a day’s work.

These benefits are in fact what many developers get out of tools like Asana and Jira, which exist in part to help organize projects and segment tasks in an orderly fashion. While it’s easy to think of “project management” as something meant for entire teams, busy developers make excellent use out of the idea and the tools that help to make it easier.   

Automate Where You Can

“Automate stuff” was arguably the most interesting idea within Developer Circles Lagos’s developer productivity ideas posted on Medium. While that same post had some other interesting points, what showed through is the notion that people working in software development tend to have some idea of how to do a little bit of automation — say, by writing scripts that accomplish certain tasks on their own. And this sort of effort can help to simplify a job in a way that significantly improves productivity.

Automation may not help with every project, and naturally, some developers will be better able to take advantage of this idea than others. But generally, automating where you can is a sound strategy. Even using your development skills to automate a sort of record-keeping that logs your hour-to-hour activity can be extraordinarily helpful. This example would afford you a better picture of your own working habits, and enable you to adjust accordingly.

Additionally, it’s worth noting that you may not even have to do this sort of automation on your own, given the ready-made tools that exist within modern work programs. As an example, consider Slack’s “Standup Bot,” which is essentially a built-in project management assistant that can help to keep you on task.

Maintain Personal Health

Personal health doesn’t always come up with regard to on-the-job productivity, but it’s a mistake to assume it’s not a factor. As stated in our piece ‘5 Challenges for a Freelance Developer’ it’s important not to forget to “eat well, sleep and keep an eye on your health” in order to stay productive. Simply put, if your body and mind aren’t healthy, you’ll be less prepared to focus and have productive workdays. You’ll be a better and more prolific developer the healthier you are.

Written/Edited by: Amanda Fuller

Amanda Fuller is a freelance writer for over seven years. Since becoming freelance she has written extensively about work practices, both at home and in the office. She maintains that in order for a company to be successful they must pay as much attention to their employees as their profit margins. In her free time she practices yoga.