A developer is a person who builds as well as creates software and multiple applications. Other names of a developer are software developer, computer programmer, programmer, software coder, or software engineer. Programming skills are not sufficient to become a good developer. Some skills are a must for a developer. In this article, we will discuss the top technical skills that a developer must possess.
Top Technical Skills for a Software Developer


So read on the full article to know the top technical skills of a good developer
Programming Languages
If you want to become a good developer, you must have command on at least one programming language in detail. The programming language depends upon the area of interest. It is all up to your comfort level. Some of the programming languages
Make sure you have to fully conversant in at least one programming language.
Also check: Top 7 programming language in 2020
Data Structures and Algorithms
Every big company demands data structure and algorithms. Many companies check out the programming skills and coding skills. Data structures and algorithms are necessary to build develop logical skills. You should know how to work with the logics.
Attempt free: Data Structure Test
SDLC (Software development life cycle)
SDLC is a step by step systematic process for developing a software ensuring its quality and correctness.You should possess appropriate knowledge of SDLC iIf you are planning to become a software developer. There are mainly seven phases in SDLC.
- Requirement collection and analysis
- Feasibility study
- Designing
- Implementation
- Coding
- Testing
- Deployment
- Maintenance
It is necessary so the developer works according to the plan.
Text Editors
Every programmer’s programming journey initiates from text editors It doesn’t matter whether you are a beginner, intermediate or expert level programmer you should possess this skill also. There are a lot of text editors available
- Notepad++
- Sublime Text
- Atom
- Brackets
- Visual code
If you want to become a good developer you should spend some time in a learning text editor as well as some keyboard shortcut to becoming a smart developer.
IDEs (Integrated Development Environment)
With the help of IDEs one can write, modify, compile, run, and debug your code. Every programmer should be as understandable to know how to use IDEs for writing compiling running and debugging their code.
Using an IDE speed up their work. Moreover there are different IDEs available for developers. For C, C++ and C# programmer’s most recommended choice is Visual Studio or Code:: Blocks. For Python developers, PyCharm, Spyder, or Jupyter notebook is also getting popularity. For Java Eclipse, NetBeans and IntelliJ IDEA is the best choice for developers.
Networking Basics
Mostly in 75-80% cases, an application is based on the client-server model. In client-server mode the request goes through the network to a server and client. It is appropriate for developers to possess a basic understanding of networking concepts.Client-server architecture these days is deployed in most of the applications like web-based, online games, business automation, or cloud computing is used. So it is mandatory to learn the basics of networking
Databases
If there are no backends, the application is simply based. In today’s world it is vital to store the data. The main skill for developers is knowing how to work with databases.
They possess basic knowledge of SQL queries.They should know how store records, create, insert, update, delete, etc. They should be fully conversant in the queries. Knowledge of any database like Oracle, MS-Access will be a plus in the journey of becoming a good developer.
Operating System
An operating system is one of the major subjects that is taught in computer science. If you are serious about software development then you should know the basics and mechanism of the operating system.
When a developer work on a project, he/she might face so many issues related with an operating system like memory usage, communicating with another machine, running a program very slow, tools conflicting issues, blocking issues, etc.. So its good to have good knowledge of process and mechanism of the operating system Most of the programmers prefer working on Linux and other opt Windows machine or Mac. Android and iOS.
Also check: Segmentation in Operating System
Basics of Testing
An application has to pass over so many test cases before releasing software in the market. Testing is important to discover all kinds of bugs. Following are the main testing methods that a developer must use
UNIT TESTING– Here every individual module or class is tested properly.
INTEGRATION TESTING – In this developer has to test the interaction between different blocks or modules. This testing eradicates the incorrect processing of data.
SYSTEM TESTING– Here the testing is conducted on complete and integrated software. It comes under the category of the black box testing technique where it doesn’t require internal knowledge of the code.
Encryption and Cryptography
Website security is very important and when it comes to making a web application or software which uses sensitive information of a user, a developer needs to implement a secure and encrypted key to prevent all kind of attacks. Security of users is the major concern for every organization So the developer must possess security knowledge as well. He should be conversant with several encryption algorithms.
Also check: Cryptography vs Steganography
Microsoft Excel
A developer has no link to development with Microsoft Excel but it plays a vital role in tracking progress, analysis data, data quality check, maintenance of data, and also for project planning.
It assists the developer in the following tasks
- Easy searching and sorting
- Speed up mathematical operations
- Filtering of the data
So it is not a bad idea in learning the basics of Excel
Also check: Top 8 Data Science Programming Language
Final Thoughts
There are still more skills that can be added up in the list, but I have compile main skills that a developer must possess. If you are having any doubt, ask me freely in the comment box.