Top Developer Skills to Look For in 2020

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Today, Information Technology (IT) is currently driving change in almost every major industry. While companies of all shapes and sizes are consistently evolving and embedding technology into the hearts of their products, there is a major need for highly-skilled technical talent to be able to keep up with the demand to constantly innovate. If you are a software developer, and looking to continuously improve your skill set to stand out from your competition, it's important to understand the top software skills needed in 2020. Additionally, if your company is looking to innovate its technology and hire today’s top technical talent, it’s critical to make sure your experts have acquired these specific skill sets.

Top Developer Skills

According to HackerRank’s 2020 Developer Skills Report, full-stack developers are the current ‘hot commodity’ aka in high-demand. Over 43% of surveyed small companies (from 1 - 49 employees), ranked this skill set as their top role to fill. Although the percentages were slightly lower (around 35%) for enterprise companies, there is still a critical need for full-stack dev help within these businesses too. A few other popular tech roles to note are: Back-end developers (20% of companies are seeking this skill set), data scientists (13%), front-end developers (10%), DevOps engineers (7%) and QA engineers (around 5%).

There is a clear reason why full-stack developers are in such high-demand - it’s the most professionally demanding role. Full-stack developers require continuous learning to keep up with the latest technology trends - over half of the devs surveyed noted that within the last year they had to learn a new framework or language. Their job description is quite indistinct because they have to continue to focus on their professional development efforts to keep up with the breadth of new technologies. As a result, if you are a full-stack developer, you never stop learning. If you’re looking for a place full of programming resources, Codecademy is a great place to start something new!

Top Programming Languages

HackerRank also pinpoints the most in-demand programming languages in 2020, which includes: JavaScript, Python, Java, C#, C++, PHP, C, Go and Ruby. Being fluent in these languages will make you the most desirable candidate for small and large companies. The great thing about programming languages is that once you’re familiar with the basic fundamentals of coding, it’s relatively easy to pick up a new language. Hence, professional development and expanding your skill set will only improve your chances of landing a new gig. What’s more, learning doesn’t have to be boring - you can try CodeWars, a platform full of programming challenges.

Top Programming Frameworks

If you’re a developer looking for a high-paying salary, you can also examine the most sought after programming frameworks. Although they require a very specific skill set, HackerRank notes these are the most in-demand: Backbone.js, Cocoa, Ruby on Rails, Spark and Struts. What’s interesting - the salary of programmers who are capable of working with Backbone.js is around 50% higher than the global average. As a result, entrepreneurs who are planning on building their product using the frameworks listed above should expect to pay more for technical talent.

As you can see, IT professionals are a critical job function across all industry sectors. It is absolutely crucial for software developers today to continue to seek professional development opportunities to advance their skill set just as fast as the IT industry is evolving. And luckily, there are plenty of tech opportunities available, which you can find on sites like: Built In LA, Built in NYC, Built in SF, LinkedIn, and more.

At VentureDevs, our software developers are constantly improving their skill sets to evolve with the market's ever-changing demands to keep up with our client's needs. If you are a developer looking to expand or improve upon your technical skill set, we offer monthly #VentureWorkshops to focus on technical development, brainstorm new ideas and network with fellow software colleagues.

Alternatively, if you are a company searching for the industry's top tech experts, VentureDevs has the industry’s top technical experts who specialize in front-end/back-end development, Python, Ruby on Rails, and more. We can quickly make an impact to help grow your business. Here's a few of the roles our experts can help with: