Guest Post Archives - Simple Programmer https://simpleprogrammer.com/category/guest-post/ Wed, 11 Mar 2026 01:50:43 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0 12 REALITIES of Daily Life as a Programmer https://simpleprogrammer.com/daily-life-programmer/ Wed, 21 Sep 2022 14:00:26 +0000 https://simpleprogrammer.com/?p=27517 What’s the daily life of a programmer like? A programmer’s daily life consists of auditing and debugging code, coding new software, and monitoring the performance of finished programs. What’s more, a programmer has to be in constant communication with coworkers, clients, and their boss. The average developer’s work day spans across 8 hours.  Read on...

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What’s the daily life of a programmer like?

A programmer’s daily life consists of auditing and debugging code, coding new software, and monitoring the performance of finished programs. What’s more, a programmer has to be in constant communication with coworkers, clients, and their boss. The average developer’s work day spans across 8 hours. 

Read on to learn about the 12 realities of a programmer’s life: 

1. You Attend Daily Stand Up Meetings

Software Developers Stand Up Meeting

This is often overlooked when you think about what a developer’s life is like. We all picture the lone wolf coding away in front of his computer. 

But there’s a significant social aspect to programming jobs:

Each and every day you’re having meetings to discuss your current project and your next steps. You’re brainstorming with your team, you’re asked to report on your progress, or you present new features. 

So even if you’re a more extraverted person, or you need your daily dose of talking to people, you find that in a programming job – in spite of the stereotype.

2. You Spend a Lot of Time Solving Problems as a Programmer

Problem-Solving Programmer

Being a software developer means solving problems, and applying the solution using code.

It’s what most of your daily work life revolves around:

You get handed an outcome that needs to be achieved. Then it’s up to you to come up with a course of action to achieve that outcome.

Software developers are sought-after and command high salaries because they excel at this high-level approach – essential for effective problem-solving. 

They’re much more than “code automatons”.

3. You’re Learning Every Day

Programmers Are Always Learning

The nature of the job is that you’re constantly confronted with new problems. Some of these require a skill you don’t yet have – so you go and learn it.

But you’re already used to that from your journey to becoming a software developer: 

  • Mastering programming from the ground up 
  • Developing skills in new languages
  • Sharpening your problem-solving abilities 

– these have turned you into a superlearner. 

A developer’s life is spent reading books and blogs, browsing code repositories and taking apart other people’s programs to copy their code principles. 

4. You Drink a Lot of Coffee

Programmers Drink A Lot of Coffee

It’s a cliché, but also true: Many programmers drink large amounts of coffee every day.

One reason is to combat lack of sleep. But mostly it’s because caffeine puts your brain into high gear. As a developer, it feels great to have your greatest tool become even more activated.

Easy to see why so many programmers are addicted to coffee!

Of course there’s always exceptions to the rule. If you don’t drink coffee at all while you’re coding – that’s great.

After all, you do “go into debt” borrowing extra “unearned” energy from your body. And if you push it too far, you can crash.

5. You Communicate With Other Developers

Every day you’ll have a back-and-forth with your programmer coworkers. 

  • You make sure everyone is working in the right direction 
  • You coordinate current and future tasks 
  • You show your progress and compare notes

In your life as a programmer, you’re working together on tough problems and important projects. This means you’ll grow close with your coworkers. From this can spring friendships that go way beyond the job.

Again, soft skills are an important part of your working life as a developer. The better you communicate with others, the better you can address problems, coordinate actions, and motivate your peers.

And that leads to projects being finished more quickly and with higher quality.

6. You See Opportunity Everywhere

Developers See Life as Opportunity

Because you’re looking at life through a problem-solving lens, you keep seeing ways things could be improved by using a piece of software.

Many programmers have gotten rich by following these hunches, building out prototypes and releasing them to the public. In general, applying the software engineering mindset to other areas of life can lead to great success.

To be a smart programmer is a gift. No matter what you go after – be it climbing the career ladder, becoming a world-traveling freelancer, or launching your own startup – your chances of success are higher than average.

7. You Can Have a Life Outside of Coding

Life Outside of Coding

Yes, many programmers are so obsessed with coding that they dedicate their whole life to it, almost 24/7. After they get home from work, they start on their personal side projects – and don’t quit until it’s time to go to bed. 

But not all programmers don’t have a “real life”.

The typical developer job is 40 hours per week or less. So you still have a bunch of free time. And how you spend it is your choice.

It’s true that coding attracts “nerdy” personalities – those that like to play games, browse the internet, or keep coding during their free time.

If you want though, you can have a perfectly outgoing, active, and adventurous life as a programmer. You just need to want that kind of lifestyle badly enough and set some goals to achieve it.

8. Your Life as a Programmer Can be Stressful

Stressful Programmer Life

Everything takes twice as long as you think. Sometimes you go down a particular path with your code, only to realize it doesn’t work and you need to start from scratch. You uncover a lot of bugs you’ll need to fix during debugging.

Your clients are often not empathetic with regards to your work as a programmer. They can’t grasp how difficult it is, and they look for results ASAP.

And when you’re starting to solve a problem from a high-level perspective, it’s often hard to pin down every small part of the solution and give a realistic time frame for each.

The result is that as a developer, your life is spent chasing deadlines. It’s one of its not-so-pleasant realities.

You need to be cut out for this kind of work:

Fired up by challenges, determined to push through against all odds.

9. You Support Your Client’s Software

Learn Database Technology as a Software Engineer

After you’ve launched your newly-created software, your job is not done.

Oftentimes you’re asked to provide continuous support for the program. This includes customer service, frequent testing for bugs, and adding new features.

To make your life as a developer easier, it’s a good idea to create a quality product the first time – so your task list for servicing it becomes much shorter.

Companies need someone they trust looking after their software. So be prepared to always have this be part of your working days as a developer.

10. Your Lifestyle at Work is Sedentary

Sedentary Programmer Lifestyle

As a software developer, you spend most of your day sitting down, staring at a screen – often with bad posture.

If you want to keep your body healthy, you need to take serious steps to combat this sedentary lifestyle:

  • Take frequent “eye breaks”
  • Consider a standing desk
  • Adjust your posture often
  • Get up and walk around once in a while

Without using tactics like these to stay fit as a developer, developing conditions such as “coder’s neck” is inevitable, unfortunately.

Also be as active as possible in your free time:

Take walks, play a sport, go to the gym. This way you can reverse the negative impact of a daily life spent sitting.

11. You Take Home Good Money

Software Engineer Salary
Software Engineer holding dollars

One of the perks of programmer life: The great take-home pay.

Software developers have always been in high demand, and increasingly so. It’s a skill that makes companies millions of dollars. And it’s an advanced skillset – not everyone has the guts to learn programming to a good level.

For these reasons, software developers are earning between $60,000 and $120,000 per year. Freelance programmers can command hourly rates over $100.

So even if the job is stressful, the monetary benefits might be worth it:

If you’re making a six-figure salary, you can afford a nice lifestyle.

12. You Can Go Remote or Freelance

Freelance Developer Life

Working as a programmer doesn’t have to mean being stuck in a corporate office all day.

Software development is a type of job that’s well-suited to being taken remote – and there’s lots of those offers out there. 

Alternatively you could strike out on your own – living the freelance lifestyle.

Then you’re combining the great pay with the freedom to work from wherever you want and set your own hours. 

Your Path to Living the Programmer Life

To speed up your way to living the programmer life, check out the free checklist “The 4 Most Important Skills for a Software Developer”:

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5G App Development: How To Prepare for the Future of the Internet https://simpleprogrammer.com/5g-app-development/ Wed, 24 Aug 2022 14:00:02 +0000 https://simpleprogrammer.com/?p=41478 5G is the fifth generation of broadband cellular mobile networks and is expected to bring a huge change in the world of wireless technology. As a significant upgrade to the existing 4G network, 5G will provide faster download speeds, wider coverage, and stable connectivity. Moreover, the core properties of 5G make it a key investment...

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5G is the fifth generation of broadband cellular mobile networks and is expected to bring a huge change in the world of wireless technology. As a significant upgrade to the existing 4G network, 5G will provide faster download speeds, wider coverage, and stable connectivity.

Moreover, the core properties of 5G make it a key investment to support the future needs of the internet—as we’ll see in more detail below, 5G isn’t simply a better version of 4G. According to the mobile economy report, 5G is expected to reach two billion users by 2025.

Inevitably, a powerful upgrade like 5G is likely to have implications for software development as well. As a result, 5G is an immense opportunity for programmers to showcase their skills using the latest technology and deliver an improved user experience through next-generation mobile applications. Here is how developers can prepare their mobile applications to make the best use of 5G.

How 5G Differs From Everything That Came Before It

As I mentioned above, 5G is not just an improved version of 4G. Based on its properties, 5G promises to deliver the following features:

  • High speed wireless connectivity. 5G is expected to have a data rate of up to 10 Gbps, a significant improvement over the existing 4G.
  • Low latency. Equipped with Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communication, 5G will be able to deliver in milliseconds data that usually takes a lot longer on 4G networks.
  • Greater bandwidth. The 5G network is expected to have better connectivity across a wide range of mobile applications.

As a result of major enhancements, 5G will provide improved security levels for data transfers over the network. Keeping this in mind, developers will have to work on safer ways of authentication, like biometric measures. Apart from this, as 5G will have minimal issues regarding connectivity and latency, developers can introduce new features for mobile apps without worrying about performance. Let’s see how, in more detail.

Seamless Adoption of Artificial Intelligence

5G is going to be a game changer for the Internet of Things (IoT). High connectivity speed will enable broader adoption of IoT for wearable devices, smart gadgets, and sensor-based equipment. Along with this, developers can also leverage Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) into their mobile apps to provide smarter services. With the help of AI-integrated apps, developers can provide powerful authentication to ensure safe and secure data distribution across networks.

Furthermore—and in order to ensure personalized experience—developers can take advantage of AI on the 5G network and work on features like voice recognition and automated chats. This is extremely helpful in cases of applications designed for highly mobile environments where users cannot constantly type their requirements.

Moreover, developers can aim toward self-learning apps that collect user data to improve engagement. Providing relatable content is extremely important in today’s competitive market, and it will become even simpler with 5G.

The rise of 5G in the future is going to make adoption of AI in mobile applications inevitable. Take this as your cue to start learning what you need to know about how AI development works. Focus on programming languages for AI such as Java, C++, and Python.

Next, try to get familiar with advanced Big Data technologies as AI developers have to tackle large volumes of data. While theoretical learning is a bonus, don’t forget the soft skills. Participate in projects that help improve your business intelligence skills to develop commercial ventures.

Fast Streaming for Immersive Gaming

5G promises broad coverage with faster download speeds and stable connectivity—all features expected to take Augmented Reality (AR) gaming to the next level. AR along with 360 video could help drive user engagement due to ultra fast streaming. Using 5G, developers will have the chance to build high-quality mobile applications to get users to experience immersive gaming.

Low latency for 5G will play a huge role in delivering smooth gameplay, even with a large number of concurrent users on the network. Such an improvement is key for competitive gaming where users require minimal delays. According to these updates, developers can focus on multiplayer online games as they will become easier to support with 5G.

In order to build a mobile application that involves AR and VR, developers must be comfortable working with game engines like Unity or Unreal. Such engines enable you to construct 3D settings. Along with game engines, you need to be familiar with programming languages such as C++, Javascript, and Swift. As an aspiring AR/VR developer, your go-to resource must be a coding bootcamp, which gets you up to speed in a short amount of time.

Explore Remote Machine Connectivity

Machine remote control has immense potential all over the world. With the advent of 5G technology, machine remote control is now possible in environments too dangerous for people to reach. In cases of disasters, emergency responders need real-time imagery access to perform time-sensitive actions. Enabled by 5G, responders can get 4K video quality to control drones and perform searches effectively.

So, what does all this mean for you? As a developer aspiring to make the most out of 5G, remote machine connectivity can be a new area for you to explore. A good example to look at are drone control apps. To start off you need a suitable Software Development Kit (SDK) along with some Application Programming Interfaces (API). It is important that you pay attention to non-functional requirements (NFRs) such as scalability, performance, maintenance, and security.

Testing is the key to developing a good drone control application. In order to carry out successful testing, ensure that your app works on a variety of mobile phones—your team can help you access hundreds of devices in the cloud for testing. Lastly, stay up to date with the current developments in the remote machine access or drone industry. Reading up will help you cater to the relevant market and needs of the customers.

Target the Right Industries

The 5G technology is slowly rolling out to multiple different industries with notable applications. Stakeholders are making arrangements to install 5G on a massive scale in order to bring out substantial change. As a developer you must be aware of where 5G is going to have the most impact and how you can use it to your advantage. Making just any mobile application is not going to have much value unless it’s targeted toward the right industry.

Manufacturing is a major industry where 5G will be used to monitor the status of millions of items in real time. Here technologies like IoT, robotics, and autonomous vehicles running on 5G networks have enabled 50% more time saved and 30% more productivity. 

The next big industry to benefit from 5G is healthcare. In hospitals, 5G can do much more than track equipment. Cue Telehealth: 5G will enable remote monitoring via wearable devices and let surgeons perform a procedure on a patient in a different location.

Another viable industry that would be interesting to look at is retail. 5G will optimize supply chain operations through ultra accurate tracking abilities. Apart from this, the integration of AR/VR will change the way consumers and brands interact, giving customers access to physical stores just through their smartphones.

Keeping these examples in mind, it is possible to say that there are endless opportunities for developers once 5G hits the markets. However, as a developer, you should specialize in areas you have a strong interest in. Mass implementation of 5G is still underway and this gives you time to explore your strengths and learn more about what works for you.

Learn About Ambient Computing

The adoption of 5G is a pathway to integration of new technologies in our daily lives. One such technology on the hype these days is known as ambient computing. The goal of ambient computing is to reduce the interaction between machines and humans. With ambient computing enabled, you won’t need to interact actively with a device; instead, devices will respond to your actions.

The mass adoption of 5G will facilitate the prevalence of ambient computing in your everyday life. Cue mobile app development: Ambient computing is a field that has immense potential. While ambient computing sounds a lot like IoT, there are a few differences. IoT is still considered to be screen centric while the goal of “ambient” technology is to remove the role of the devices altogether.

Some examples of ambient applications include self-driving cars and automatic sensors to detect wear and tear in devices to schedule maintenance.

As a developer you need tools that help you create app-centric technology, such as Flutter. By using Flutter, you can focus on creating the app rather than thinking about catering to a certain device. To develop with Flutter you need to learn a programming language called Dart—mainly focused on front end development for mobile and web applications.

Embrace the Upcoming 5G Revolution

The 5G technology is almost here and you should be ready for it. Due to its high speed connectivity and bandwidth, 5G is going to offer benefits never seen before. With unique features such as IoT, AR/VR, and remote machine control, 5G is your signal to explore your interests and dive out of your comfort zone. As a developer, you should focus on areas that drive your passion and acquire the skills to pursue it.

5G adoption is going to eliminate a lot of development limitations and this is going to be a huge opportunity for programmers to build apps with new functionalities and solutions. Consequently, the development industry will slowly change its pace, adjusting to the new stability offered by 5G.

Having fewer limitations means more freedom to create high-performance applications. So now is the time to prepare—learn the skills, practice the tools, and get ready to face the internet revolution head-on!

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Impostor Syndrome as a Programmer https://simpleprogrammer.com/impostor-syndrome-programmer/ Mon, 22 Aug 2022 14:00:44 +0000 https://simpleprogrammer.com/?p=41476 Believing that you’re somewhat unqualified for your job is a problem faced by the best of us. When those thoughts creep into your head, they’re hard to shake off. Having impostor syndrome makes you feel like you’re not doing enough work, not learning quickly enough, or that you’re simply not good enough for the position...

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Believing that you’re somewhat unqualified for your job is a problem faced by the best of us. When those thoughts creep into your head, they’re hard to shake off.

Having impostor syndrome makes you feel like you’re not doing enough work, not learning quickly enough, or that you’re simply not good enough for the position you’re occupying—even when you’ve worked tirelessly to get to where you are.

Impostor syndrome is characterized by feelings of inadequacy in the workplace, leading to a fear of being discovered as a fraud. It’s like having chronic self-doubt.

In this article, you’ll find out everything you need to know about impostor syndrome. How it manifests, how it impacts your career as a programmer, and how you can deal with it. I’ll also share my own experience with impostor syndrome and the steps I’ve taken to work through it.

How I Found Out I Was Dealing With Impostor Syndrome

The thought is always there. It’s that inner voice that tells you to keep quiet while the smart people are talking and that your opinion is way too unimportant to be aired. That’s how impostor syndrome creeps in.

In my case, I think I always had it. I always chose to take on the simpler tasks rather than the tougher and more challenging ones. I told myself that if I tried out a new project that was beyond my knowledge, I would fail terribly.

I didn’t know the term “imposter syndrome” but I wanted to know why I ran away from things I wanted to learn or felt slow when I tried to acquire new skills. I googled my problems and finally found a list of symptoms that matched my predicament, including:

  • I felt I didn’t deserve the position I was in because I wasn’t good enough for it. Chronic self-doubt was my very close companion.
  • I doubted my accomplishments and attributed them to outside help or luck.
  • I fixated on my errors and failures and allowed them to dictate my intelligence limits.
  • I doubted my skills when I realized I didn’t know everything there is to know.
  • I believed some projects were just way out of my league and I shouldn’t even bother trying.
  • When I heard from other developers about their skills and experience, I thought I could never attain their level and that they were all smarter and more talented than myself.
  • I refused to communicate my ideas.
  • I felt anxious and stressed due to feelings of inadequacy.

These symptoms I found were all related to impostor syndrome.

I now knew why I couldn’t learn to program when I first developed an interest in it in 2019. I started with HTML and it looked good.

This is nice, I can do this.

Then I opened JavaScript and it really hit me. The self-doubt crept in.

Who are you trying to deceive? Why would you even think for one second that you can handle this? Do you think programming is a joke and any person can just get into it? You’re terrible at math and get frustrated at the first sign of a problem, and you think programming is the next thing for you? You’re kidding yourself. 

At that point, I felt like a total fraud. Like if I ever got a job in programming, it would be with fake credentials.

How Impostor Syndrome Affects Programmers Generally

If you’re relating to these symptoms I have mentioned, you probably have impostor syndrome, too.

It hinders programmers from taking on projects that are different from the types they usually take on, from speaking up and chipping in ideas at work, or from starting up their own establishments.

Oftentimes, developers will quit their jobs because they feel they’re not fit for the role. They might even switch to a whole new career thinking that they can’t keep up with working in tech.

I, for one, put off learning how to code for three years. I started a business and then eventually went into growth marketing. I finally learned how to manage my self-doubt and got back into programming, but I had lost a lot of time.

You might be thinking of quitting, too, because you don’t believe in yourself or your abilities. Maybe your self-doubt is eating you alive and you just can’t get over it.

Impostor syndrome slows down your career growth as a programmer. It reduces your productivity, and we can’t have that. You’re very important to the advancement of the tech field, and I can’t let you quit. Not without sharing my hard-earned imposter syndrome management tips first!

How I Learned to Manage My Impostor Syndrome and Get Back Into Programming

After three years of wasted dreams (literally), I got a growth marketing internship. I had very little in terms of skills, but I still applied and got the job. I dedicated myself to learning the necessary skills to excel at the job, and it has been going well so far.

During that time, I have also gotten back into programming. I’m more dedicated to learning new languages and developing projects for when I’m finally ready to transition into programming fully and start applying for jobs.

In that time, something had to have changed. I no longer felt those inklings of self-doubt. I was more confident in my skills, and it helped me excel at my work and learn programming languages better and faster.

So, what changed?

Well, I found ways around my impostor syndrome, and now I no longer give up on a task or project just because my brain tells me it’s too big for me or that I can’t handle it. I don’t even need outside motivation to keep me going.

Here are some of the things I did that helped me let go of my self-doubt. You might want to try them out for yourself so you can get better at managing impostor syndrome.

Make a Habit of Being Uncomfortable

The first time I quit learning how to code, it was mostly because I felt uncomfortable with it. It was totally out of my comfort zone and unrelated to what I was studying. When I felt the weight of the discomfort, I decided to quit and let go of my passion. This is how self-doubt turns your dreams into wasted ambitions.

So, to get back into programming, I had to get comfortable with my discomfort. Whenever I feel like programming is way out of my league, like I’m impersonating a really smart programmer, or like I’m a wolf in sheep’s clothing, I don’t stop learning. I sit in that discomfort and soak it in.

As a programmer, you should already know what you want and have goals to get it. Discomfort shouldn’t throw you off-track and keep you away from success.

Stop Letting Professionals Intimidate You

Programmers in general like posting their work on social platforms so other people can check it out. Showing off your work is an important step in building your brand so you can get high-paying jobs.

One thing I always did was compare myself to the work of professionals. I’d look at their code and instantly get a brain freeze.

What are all these? Why don’t I understand these yet?

The thing is, these folks are professionals. They’ve been writing code for years. They developed dozens of projects that are far superior to the weather app you’re working on. If you continue to compare yourself to them, you’ll start feeling like you’re not doing enough, you’re unintelligent, or you’re not a programmer and you’re just deceiving yourself.

When you finish working on your tiny little project and you publish it, some professionals and more experienced programmers might tell you plainly that what you did is very little compared to what they’re doing or that you should not bother developing seemingly tougher projects because this one you just published is subpar.

Don’t worry about being inferior to them. You don’t have time for that. Work harder and filter out the noise, and you’ll soon find yourself doing the things they said you couldn’t handle.

Embrace the Impostor and Know You Cannot Always Be the Best

Being a programmer means there’s always something new to learn—a new language, concept, syntax, etc. I had to learn that I can’t be on top of everything at all times. To become a great programmer, I have to devote myself to learning constantly.

When you have impostor syndrome, you’ll doubt your abilities just because you don’t know how to use the hot new tool or you’re not easily grasping the language everyone is talking about. At this point, you’ll feel the full crushing weight of self-doubt and you might want to give up on everything.

However, once you accept that you cannot possibly know everything there is to know about programming, that you cannot be the best in the whole world, you can embrace feeling like an impostor and take it as an opportunity to learn something new.

The best programmers are not the ones who know everything, but the ones who are willing to learn new things whenever they’re needed.

Say Yes to Doing Things You Don’t Know How to Do Yet

I do this thing at work where I say yes to carrying out tasks I know nothing about. When I don’t know how to do something, I don’t say, “Oh I’m sorry, I don’t know what that is or how to do it so I can’t.”

I just say, “Sure.”

Immediately after that, I’ll start researching how to do that particular thing, then I’ll find out how to do it faster. Before I know it, I’m done. I’ve completed the task I knew nothing about and learned something in the process.

Successful programmers don’t say no to a new project just because they’ve never done it before or because their brain tells them they can’t do it. That’s what impostor syndrome does. It makes you stay away from anything challenging so you never leave your comfort zone. If you want to be a better programmer and stop feeling like a fraud, you have to challenge yourself and do all those things your mind says you can’t do.

Soon, those feelings of self-doubt will no longer mean anything to you because you’ve been facing your challenges head on and you will continue to do so.

Keep Track of Your Accomplishments

Accomplishments are great reminders of your abilities and worth. As you grow as a programmer, naturally you’ll start working on projects at increasingly higher levels. You can document your achievements so you can go back to look at them later and pat yourself on the back for how far you’ve come. It’s a nice reminder of your growth.

I usually set tasks for myself in the Notion app. I’ll write a description of the projects I’m working on, what I hope to learn while working on them, and the tools or languages I plan to use in completing them. When I’m through with the projects and move them to the completed projects list, they’re always there for me to look back and commend myself.

You can also document the new problems you solved (that horrifying bug that almost took your life or how you cracked some interview questions). These will help you later on to be more confident in yourself and your skills.

You’ve Got This!

To wrap this up, I’d like to reiterate that as a programmer, especially when you’re transitioning into programming from another discipline or you don’t have a computer science degree, it is completely normal to feel like an impostor or a fraud. You are not alone—a lot of programmers go through it. I have, and I have also learned how to best manage it.

Here’s a highlight of some of the things that can help you manage impostor syndrome:

  • Make a habit of being uncomfortable.
  • Stop letting professionals intimidate you.
  • Embrace the impostor and know that you cannot always be the best.
  • Say yes to things you don’t know how to do yet.
  • Keep track of your accomplishments.

I have shared my experience in this article as well as some actionable steps you can take to manage your own impostor syndrome. I hope they help you wrangle this conniving beast!!

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The Top Challenges Developers Face in the IT Era and Strategies for Overcoming Them https://simpleprogrammer.com/top-challenges-developers-face-in-it/ Fri, 19 Aug 2022 14:00:01 +0000 https://simpleprogrammer.com/?p=41470 The dynamic nature of software development and the accelerating pace of innovation and industry standards make programming advancement challenging. Due to the quick pace of change, the increasing demand for expedited digital transformation, the unpredictable economic, social, and political climate, and the challenge of finding and paying for experienced development professionals, businesses have their job...

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The dynamic nature of software development and the accelerating pace of innovation and industry standards make programming advancement challenging. Due to the quick pace of change, the increasing demand for expedited digital transformation, the unpredictable economic, social, and political climate, and the challenge of finding and paying for experienced development professionals, businesses have their job cut out for them.

The pandemic’s first impact on most enterprises was significant. Among the industries, software arguably did the best. Like other tech firms, software companies often have more advanced remote working and digital transformation technologies, which is another crucial component.

According to a study, unrealistic timelines and a lack of suitable or sufficient work tools were two of the biggest problems software engineers had to deal with in 2022.

The IT sector thrives with sustained expansion, opening up tempting financial and developmental possibilities. Yet whenever a project delivery is delayed or a product has errors, everyone begins criticizing the software development teams—especially the developers.

As a result, it’s essential to recognize the underlying challenges in software development and devise a logical plan for each one. This is precisely what I’ll offer you in this post, so that you can assure you have the optimal strategies to face these issues when they arise.

Software Development Growth and Challenges

It is undeniable that enterprise software development is growing faster in all tech industries worldwide. Individuals, small businesses, and large corporations all rely on various types of software to complete daily tasks. Software engineers, developers, and programmers work together to create software. Their roles closely overlap, they interact, and their dynamics differ significantly between development departments.

In such a gigantic framework of operations and processes, you may encounter difficulties daily. These challenges must be addressed soon to minimize their effect on your final product. So let’s examine some typical problems software developers face, followed by some solutions.

Design Influences

As user expectations have increased dramatically due to the proliferation of straightforward, readily available applications, it is essential to offer a consistent user experience across platforms, product lines and software.

Ensure that your design is efficient to meet the enterprise’s needs. Stakeholders, the development team, and other internal and external factors impact product designs. Maximizing the effectiveness of systems and their associated impact on potential future business opportunities requires managing these effects.

Development Plans and Outcomes

The ongoing alteration of requirements is one of the leading causes of the complexity of software development projects. It should be no surprise that many people view creating products with ambiguous requirements as their biggest obstacle.

Requirements gathering—which involves much more than just a team of business experts creating their ideal product—aims to understand precisely what a project will offer. A reliable method and channel of communication must be built to guarantee that the product outcomes match expectations and standards.

Project Infrastructure

In terms of how it affects project delivery, an unstructured project environment is always a typical difficulty for software development. You cannot complete your project on schedule and within your allocated budget if the environment is not suitable.

The availability of test and pre-production environments during a project’s development, testing, and user acceptance testing (UAT) phases are crucial for improved project development. To enhance the environment for developing software, make an upfront investment in a reliable IT infrastructure.

Project Management

Multitasking frequently causes more problems than you anticipate. If management overburdens resources with work, they cannot concentrate on a particular task or module. Using project management tools to keep projects, resources, and teams coordinated and on schedule is an evident approach to being a great planner.

You can manage your enterprise software development projects effectively and efficiently if you stay on track, adhere to all deadlines, and collaborate across apps. Always sequentially allocate tasks instead of in parallel, and encourage your resources to support them in everything they undertake.

Quality Assurance

Sometimes, to save time and fulfill deadlines, software developers don’t inspect code—or even hide problems. Yet for a launch to be successful, it is crucial to adhere to a systematic quality assurance approach.

To achieve the criteria more quickly and effectively, encourage developers to apply the most acceptable code development practices. Moreover, instruct developers to stop immediately if you see them trying to cut corners while creating software products.

Security Infrastructure

A substantial vulnerability exists in 96% of all web programs, contributing to the rise in security breaches. How do you handle growing security threats? How are the different components of your software or application secured?

In addition to the software engineer, other team members responsible for security include management, project managers, business analysts, quality assurance managers, technical architects, and the application and developer teams. Keep in mind the following essential practices to protect your infrastructure and enterprise:

  • Use various technologies that best suit your business to secure your applications from cyber threats.
  • Utilize high-level programming languages with integrated security measures to create software.
  • Impose security assurance requirements like code review and penetration testing.
  • Carry out crucial fundamental tasks.

Systems and App Integration

There are countless different technologies, platforms, and commercial applications accessible today. Integrating third-party or other custom applications, such as your website, inventory management database, or ERP systems, significantly increases the complexity of your project.

The primary issue with integration is that it causes additional expenses, long waits, poor quality, and occasionally even project failure because it is buried throughout the software development process and only becomes apparent at the very end.

Consider taking the following steps to adapt your software solution to the constraints imposed by other processes:

  • Comprehend the target user’s needs.
  • Implement a corporate framework for the application’s platform architecture.
  • Find and study emerging technological advancements.
  • Design and create innovative solutions.
  • Achieve optimal integration since ideas should be put to the test and evaluated.
  • Increase your focus on testing, prototyping, research, and development.

Test Software Duplication

Testing software systems in a controlled setting might be challenging because the user is not entirely submerged in a natural working environment. It is impossible to predict how a user would really utilize a program before it has been made available.

Controlled testing is insufficient today due to the increasing diversity of software applications for B2B and B2C markets. Inevitably, the success of your program depends on testing it in a different real-world testing environment. This will enable you to compare how well your ideas perform in a hypothetical setting with actual usage.

Upgrading Skills Based on Market Trends

It can be challenging to meet the most recent technological demands, such as mobile-first, mobile-only, or desktop-first. Your time to market will undoubtedly be impacted if you lack resources with practical knowledge in the newest and most popular technology.

To avoid such issues, strive to constantly improve your abilities and keep your skills up-to-date. This entails keeping abreast of market trends and looking into new software and technology developments as they emerge.

Undefined Quality Standards

Even though the product has undergone extensive unit testing during the development phase, error finding is unavoidable during functionality testing. Make sure to schedule several testing cycles while creating the test strategy, conditions, cases, and scripts to guarantee that your test plan covers all deliverables.

Strategies to Overcome These Challenges

Besides the brief tips I’ve already offered you while listing the possible challenges, you should also consider some more systematic, strategic changes. Let’s take a closer look at what you can do to make your life easier and improve your productivity.

Integrate Learning Skills in a Workspace

To get started and succeed, developers need to have a specific set of skills. It is necessary to master a certain kind of software or gain expertise in a new topic to perform better. Take charge of your success by developing new abilities to better manage the problems and barriers your team will face, as required by the circumstances.

No-code and Low-code

It’s perhaps inevitable that no-code and low-code platforms are unsettling some software professionals, since they enable developers of all skill levels to create apps and prototype new products.

As a software developer, you might be worried about the state of coding as a necessary talent in the future. Nonetheless, thanks to the development of no-code and low-code platforms, software developers have a lot more space to do what they do best: solve issues and promote innovation.

Proper Testing

A standard software development project will inevitably involve interpersonal conflicts between the software development and testing teams. Conflicts of this sort are caused by working under extreme performance pressure, varied job roles, various mindsets, and the oppositional character of growth and assessment. The project’s success as a whole could be in jeopardy if these differences are not properly handled and managed.

Your development teams must fully comprehend the difficulties they will encounter in a dynamic software environment and have a strategy to overcome them if they succeed. The economic sector is impacted by changing technological developments and several internal and external factors.

Solid Requirements and Realistic Schedules

All team members must agree on clear, comprehensive, detailed, compelling, realistic, and testable standards. Tight cooperation with clients or end users is required to guarantee that shifting or new needs are understood in “agile” contexts.

Furthermore, allow enough time for the project’s planning, design, testing, bug fixing, re-testing, changes, and documentation; employees should be able to finish it without being overworked.

Stick to the Initial Plan

Initial requirements in “agile” environments might be anticipated to alter dramatically, necessitating the implementation and application of actual agile methods. Once work starts, be ready to argue against unnecessary additions and alterations and explain the results.

If modifications are required, the corresponding schedule changes should effectively reflect them. If possible, cooperate closely with clients or end users to control expectations.

Team Communication

Software development requires teamwork to meet consumer expectations. Every team member must understand the project’s coding strategy, objectives, and goals, otherwise the manager’s reputation and the team’s performance would suffer.

A good manager will ensure that every team member is knowledgeable about every project facet and will quickly acquaint new staff with the work. Synergy and output will rise as a result.

The Future of Software Development

The world today operates on software. The majority of businesses and organizations rely on apps, websites, or computer-based software to keep their operations active and profitable. To preserve agility and utility, software developers create programs, make enhancements, and code modifications in reaction to ongoing rivalry and new technological developments.

Software developers must possess a high level of professional experience, since market needs are getting more complex while the technologies they use to create their programs continue to advance. Professionals with knowledge of modern technology and the creativity to advance this discipline and its applications are welcome in the future of software development.

Regardless of the industry, software developer teams face constant challenges. Requirements, incorporating new technology, ensuring end-to-end security, and avoiding duplication of work can be tricky.

To achieve your goals as a software developer, you must be precise and laser-focused on the issue you’re trying to solve. Enterprises and organizations should understand these challenges, and focus on creating an inclusive and peaceful work environment for a better employee experience.

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Steps to Follow during IoT App Development—Its Ultimate Business Value https://simpleprogrammer.com/steps-to-follow-iot-app-development/ Wed, 17 Aug 2022 14:00:21 +0000 https://simpleprogrammer.com/?p=41451 Companies who dream of staying ahead of the competition look for ways to achieve the aspect faster by inculcating innovations. Hence, the adoption of new technologies has become vital. Here, IoT takes the centre stage. IoT, also known as the Internet of Things, is a form of technology that offers devices the capability to create...

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Companies who dream of staying ahead of the competition look for ways to achieve the aspect faster by inculcating innovations. Hence, the adoption of new technologies has become vital. Here, IoT takes the centre stage.

IoT, also known as the Internet of Things, is a form of technology that offers devices the capability to create a global communication network by seamless data exchange via the internet.

Therefore, customers can access data remotely, manage smart devices seamlessly, and so on.

This is why businesses channel using the technology in their app development strategy to function smartly and efficiently.

This is what we are going to cover in the article here. After reading it, you will know how to develop an IoT app.

Reasons Why IoT is Popular

Simplifies Decision Making

With the device possessing a wide array of sensors, acquiring data from multiple sources gets streamlined. Therefore, it becomes easy to act on those data seamlessly.

For instance, smartphones keep a smart tap on the user behaviour. Based on the behaviour, they provide suggestions to the companies so that new features get included, and user retention is maximum on the device.

Due to the constant influx of data, it becomes easy for businesses to gain insight into the latest trends in device usage and gain an idea of their multiple strengths and weaknesses. This is a possible courtesy of the presence of embedded sensors and processors that make it easy to perform data analysis. Hence, in a nutshell, it ensures that decision making gets streamlined for the business.

Automates Daily Tasks

IoT allows to automate daily tasks and ensures that workload is not much. Smart fridges, for example, help users know beforehand if the food inside has passed or is about to pass its expiration date and they need to order more.

Allows to Maintain Control Over Different Operation Areas

One of the prime advantages related to the interconnection of smart devices is ensuring automated control over different areas of operation. This contains areas like inventory management, shipping, tracking, etc.

With multiple sensors in the device, it becomes easy to perform all these different tasks with utmost ease and convenience.

Ensures Operational Safety

The presence of IoT devices like surveillance cameras and motion sensors allows for ensuring the utmost security of an enterprise.

It ascertains that mishaps such as thefts, and corporate espionage do not happen, thereby making its way into the good books of investors and business partners.

Using smart interconnected devices offers the following advantages.

  • Ensures better staff productivity
  • Allows better resource and asset usage
  • Helps in achieving better business opportunities
  • Creates a trustworthy image of the brand

With knowledge of these different benefits associated with IoT, let us now gain insight into the architecture and the buildup of this technology that allows achieving these advantages with utmost ease and convenience.

IoT App Development – Components and Tech Stacks Used

iot app development

In the image above, you can observe there are six main aspects that are particularly used for IoT app development. These include connectivity and network layer, user interface, software, endpoints, cloud computing and hardware. We explain each of these in detail below.

Components Used during IoT App Development

  1. Internet access to transmit information to the cloud database.
  2. UI for seamless communication between the user and the computer system.
  3. Software like framework, embedded systems, partner systems, and middleware are necessary as they help in tasks like data gathering, device integration, etc.
  4. Endpoints allow for extending computing power so that acting on the information received from the internet is straightforward.
  5. Cloud computing simplifies the way huge packets produced by IoT get sent across the internet.
  6. Hardware to control different processes and features like system activation, authentication, communication, etc.

Knowing the different components, let’s understand the tech stacks used.

  1. Programming languages like Java for seamless data transfer to the conventional databases
  2. Cloud platforms to protect the business against possible losses which may take place due to service outage
  3. Sensors do not require a direct internet connection. Hence, it becomes easy to transmit data without even the presence of an active internet connection.
  4. Frameworks help to seamlessly handle data chunks, design the app architecture, and write codes of a particular nature.
  5. Protocols help to extract information of crucial nature from the different data components.

With the idea of the different tech stacks and components involved in IoT app development, you must get knowledge on how to perform this task so that you can allow seamless data privacy, smooth communication, and so on.

How to Build an IoT App?

iot app development
Image source: markovate.com

In the image above, you can check the different paths you have to cross when you have the goal of achieving successful IoT app development.

They include

  • Project discussion
  • Formulating an app development strategy
  • Creating a prototype and app design
  • Embarking on the journey of app development
  • App Testing
  • App Release

Continue reading to know each of these aspects in detail.

Project Discussion

Project discussion is extremely important as until and unless the development experts have thorough knowledge of the project, its success cannot be guaranteed. Therefore, a comprehensive conversation with the IoT project manager must take place to ascertain that the developers have knowledge of comprehending user interaction with different goods through the app built.

Formulating an App Development Strategy

The next crucial step is to have an app development strategy in place to ensure tasks like cross-platform interoperability and privacy protection are easy to achieve.

Collaborate with the project manager to create a robust plan with a timetable and project scope for the different hardware and software so that the end solution is high-quality. Also, it will ascertain the app allows data collection and processing to take place conveniently.

Creating a Prototype and App Design

Creating a prototype helps achieve two main aspects by analysing the different aspects of the product’s business case. Most importantly, it helps validate the product’s business case as well.

Therefore, you must place focus on creating an app prototype and on the app design to get a vision of how the end-product will appear.

Embarking on Journey of App Development

Connecting with a company having specialisation in the task is another main step you need to follow.

Channelling their aptitude in issue resolution using algorithms and data structures, programming, and error handling, they will give you access to a solution that provides you with long-term business benefits.

App Testing

The next important step is to test the app to assess the app’s performance on functional parameters, service compatibility, based on safety, based on connectivity, and so on to know if these areas are met by the final app and if it can get launched to the public in hindsight or not.

App Release

Once you identify safety, privacy, and have comprehensive clarity on the parameters like privacy getting met, you can have the app released.

Adhering to all these steps will ascertain the IoT app development journey for you remains unique and help you achieve industry growth and success side-by-side.

It is equally recommended that you keep these tips in mind to maintain data privacy and keep interconnection between devices seamlessly when you use this technology within your app development journey.

Tips to Ascertain Successful IoT App Development

Embarking on the journey for successful IoT app development? This demands you first to know the architecture. It helps you build a robust IoT app. Plan strategically and remember these tips. These together will give you the support to develop an app that successfully protects user data, automates operations, and enhances how customer service and retention take place.

  • Create a roadmap—a well-defined project scope comprising deliverables and timelines for the project to move systematically.
  • Select a platform that allows you to get maximum ROI and helps you get an estimate of your performance seamlessly.
  • Assess different security concerns by using the right set of firewalls, and anti-malware products making sure they are updated.
  • Check if speed and scalability are achieved through the end-solution so that tasks like data streaming become easy to perform and also it becomes easy to match up to increased data volumes.

Concluding Words

With these tips, you can go ahead and embark on the journey of IoT app development for your business. Following the right set of steps along this path will allow you to conveniently collect real-time data and attain maximum business advantages in the shortest time possible.

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What you need to know about IoB (Internet of Behavior) https://simpleprogrammer.com/need-to-know-internet-of-behavior/ Mon, 15 Aug 2022 14:00:44 +0000 https://simpleprogrammer.com/?p=41448 Ranked among the Top 9 Strategic Technological Trends for 2021 by Gartner, the Internet of Behavior or IoB is a subject of rising interest. An area of research and development, IoB aims to delve deeper into understanding human behavior to improve human-technology interaction. IoB is an extension of IoT, the Internet of Things, a technology...

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internet of behaviorRanked among the Top 9 Strategic Technological Trends for 2021 by Gartner, the Internet of Behavior or IoB is a subject of rising interest. An area of research and development, IoB aims to delve deeper into understanding human behavior to improve human-technology interaction.

IoB is an extension of IoT, the Internet of Things, a technology that has become familiar to us in recent years. Basically, IoB revolves around analyzing the huge amount of data generated by IoT devices and using them to understand human behavior.

User data is fundamental and invaluable today, thus IoB has huge potential. This article will shed light on the importance of IoB, its usage in various fields, and the challenges and opportunities in the field.

What Is IoB

The term IoB was coined by Professor Göte Nyman, a psychology professor at the University of Helsinki in 2012. With an intention to bring more light to understanding human behavior, professor Nyman introduced the concept of IoB, a combination of three fields: technology, data analytics, and behavioral science.

IoB can be defined as the gathering, analyzing, and using of data to understand, predict and drive human behavior. Data is collected from IoT devices and other sources like the internet, household devices, and wearables. The data is then interpreted to understand individual behavior in the light of behavioral psychology and used to influence people’s decision-making.

According to Professor Nyman, for each behavior, an address can be assigned, similar to IoT devices. Once an address is assigned to a behavior, different types of data can be linked to it. The data could be IoT data, biometric data, social media interactions and purchasing data, to name a few. The IoB data analysis can also be integrated into a central database just like IoT devices.

Understanding the Importance of IoB

Data is invaluable, but rarely so in its raw format. When data is analyzed and transformed into knowledge, it becomes an asset. IoB has tremendous importance as it can influence the entire customer experience, from the initial stage to the final touchpoint. As IoB gives information about users from different points of contact, identifying users’ discovery points, it becomes easy to track users’ journey and analyze their actions.

What does this mean for businesses? Powerful insights to make the user touchpoints engaging and deliver personalized information! The result? More interactions and engagement. With the extensive behavior analysis and its contextual application, IoB provides excellent value to users and businesses alike. As such, companies are heavily investing in IoB to improve their fundamental relationship with users.

To sum up, IoB can benefit in several ways, such as:

  • Close sales quickly with personalized marketing
  • Quick resolution of user concerns owing to a better understanding of user behavior
  • Eliminate time-consuming user surveys
  • Get a comprehensive image of target users with data from multiple channels
  • Perform real-time targeting of users for improved sales

Role of IOB in Various Sectors

As human behavior is an elementary aspect in many sectors, IoB has an impactful role to play, no matter what a given company sells or how big it is. This section will discuss the role of IoB in certain sectors but it is in no way an extensive list. The bottom line is that wherever there is human involvement, IoB has an influence.

Insurance

Insurance companies can use IoB to prevent incidents of driving under influence, identify medical emergencies, and monitor driver activities. IoB can help analyze accident scenarios accurately and identify if it was due to driver error.

Many insurance companies already use driver tracking tools. IoB can take it to the next level with its behavioral evaluation, benefitting the insurance agencies.

Digital Marketing

Digital marketing is a field where close involvement with many types of people is a necessity. As a result, IoB provides effective tools for behavioral analysis and interpretation, enhancing the end-user influence and thus improving conversion rates.

For instance, IoB can be used to analyze and optimize marketing campaigns. With IoB data, it is possible to understand people’s behavior comprehensively. Hence, personalized marketing can be done so that each person is targeted with advertisements that catch their attention.

In fact, Google and YouTube are already using IoB to show targeted ads to people. Remember how ads related to products you searched for show up during browsing Google or YouTube? Yes, that’s IoB in action.

IoB can also be used to generate real-time marketing notifications which have proven to be a great sales generator. Understanding individual behavior and sending notifications at the right time highly increases the chances of conversion. To see a practical example, think of how many times you have ordered food from an app just because they sent a notification during your lunchtime!

Production

From analyzing customer behavior to employee behavior and demand for products, the role of IoB in production is multifaceted. IoB data can be used to analyze the behavior of production staff to discover new ways to improve the quality and efficiency of production.

Moreover, analyzing data about customer behavior and how they interact with products can provide useful insights to improve customer satisfaction and safety. IoB can also be used to analyze behavioral data and determine the demand for products, based on which production can be planned. This can eliminate the problems of excess or dearth of stock.

Healthcare

As technology is advancing in the healthcare industry, creating diagnoses with minimum error margin is a key focus area of healthcare platforms. IoB can impact this area significantly. UI UX design services can make use of IoB to perform cohesive user research and build digital applications addressing user challenges and concerns such as ease of consultation and finding the right doctors.

Tracking patient activities, gathering insights from them, and sharing them in a cohesive way with the doctors greatly aids the accuracy of diagnosis.

IoB also tremendously assists healthcare providers in continuously monitoring patient behavior and relaying real-time data. For patients with chronic illnesses or needing post-surgical care, IoB is a useful tool. Moreover, iOB can be used to track patients’ responses to treatments or the impact of medical drugs.

Government

Governments can use IoB technology to gather the collective interest of citizens and thus adjust policy making.

Moreover, IoB can be deployed to enforce law and order by tracking people or groups who threaten the secure functioning of societies, thus reducing crime rates. Though the political or judicial aspects are another matter, beyond the scope of this post, this application of IoB is certainly possible from a technological standpoint.

Challenges of IoB

Gartner predicts that by 2023, 40% of the worldwide population will be under digital tracking. IoB will be a real game-changer, and while it promises tremendous opportunities, there are some serious privacy and security concerns associated with it.

The extent to which IoT tracks sensitive personal information is unnerving to many. Most aren’t comfortable with that level of intrusion. Moreover, there are concerns regarding many companies’ practice of sharing data behind the scenes with their subsidiaries.

Three key challenges that IoB has to address are:

  • Regulations: Clear regulations have to be stipulated across jurisdictions to address data privacy concerns.
  • Value: If people are willing to surrender their sensitive, personal information for better experiences, the value that they receive must be well worth it.
  • Security: For attackers, IoB opens up yet another attack area. Measures must be taken to eliminate data breaches and attacks.

Opportunities in the Field and Skills Needed

As the popularity of IoB technology is increasing, career opportunities in the field are also on the rise. Some in-demand jobs in the IoB field are IoB architect, IoB developer, IoB solutions engineer, and sensor architect and designer. There is also a rising demand for technicians, as a huge number of devices have to be deployed and managed.

Skills needed to venture into the IoB field include analytical skills, behavioral science, data management, sensor development, and data acquisition and management. Programming knowledge in Python, JavaScript and embedded languages is also a great skill to get started in a career in the IoB domain. People with software development and testing skills can try their hand to grab opportunities in IoB.

The Future of IoB

According to Gartner, by 2025, more than half of the global population will be interacting with at least one IoB system. Personalizing information is the key to delivering distinguishable experiences to people in the future.

With more than three billion people expected to interact with IoB technology in the next two years, its impact on improving service efficiency looks promising. By addressing the challenges it poses in the best possible way, IoB will deliver as much value to people as it will to businesses.

As Peter Sondergaard, Senior Vice President and Global Head of Research at Gartner said, “Information is the oil of the 21st century, and analytics is the combustion engine.”

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Temporary Employee Rights & Benefits You Need to Know https://simpleprogrammer.com/temporary-employee-rights-benefits/ Fri, 12 Aug 2022 14:00:38 +0000 https://simpleprogrammer.com/?p=41387 It’s an exciting time to get involved with the computer programming and developer industry! There is a lot of possibility for growth in this sector, but also a lot of competition for the highest profile positions. For your optimal success as a programmer and/or developer, you might have to try a couple different options before...

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temporary employee rightsIt’s an exciting time to get involved with the computer programming and developer industry! There is a lot of possibility for growth in this sector, but also a lot of competition for the highest profile positions.

For your optimal success as a programmer and/or developer, you might have to try a couple different options before finding your perfect fit for a job. Let’s explore the options for temporary IT jobs and the associated rights and benefits of temporary employment.

Whether you’ve never worked in the industry or you’re currently working in it but want a job that fits you better, temp work can be a great solution or stepping stone when you know your rights and your options. As with any temporary position, workers should understand the range of benefits and rights associated. Knowing this, you can take advantage of what’s out there, exploring options for where you could work and what you could do.

There are so many possibilities for where you could fit as a computer programmer and developer. Temp work can open doors you wouldn’t have even considered going through if you had only looked into traditional positions. Before dipping your toes in this fast-moving water, here are the temporary employee rights and benefits that you need to know.

What is Temporary Employment?

Temporary employment, often called “temp work,” is just what it sounds like: a type of employment that has a fixed, limited term. Sometimes companies directly hire workers for short-term jobs. More often, temp workers are hired for a specific time period and contracted through a staffing agency. This way, the company gets the benefit of hiring vetted workers for a limited time, and the workers get the benefit of finding quality positions they can try out for a few months.

Staffing agencies act as go-betweens for companies and workers, matching people to positions at other companies. Most of the time, staffing agencies will work with candidates to find one position that is a good fit; though, sometimes, temp workers can have several concurrent part-time assignments. Working through a staffing agency typically involves going to the same job every day for the duration of that temp contract and then switching to a new opportunity.

Temp work is not the same as freelance, contract, or self-employed work; instead, it is essentially a short-term regular job, similar to a trial period. Often, temp work can transition into regular work. This is called temp-to-hire, and temp agencies typically spearhead that transition.

Enjoy Stable Flexibility

The primary benefit of temporary IT jobs is stable flexibility. In other words, programmers with temp work can continue earning an income, fleshing out their resume, and building their network all while still searching for the best fit for their skills and lifestyle.

It might seem like a temporary job is the opposite of stable, since this type of employment is usually only for a few months. However, during the term of your temp work, you get the stability of a steady paycheck while you gain experience and knowledge toward finding the long-term job that is your perfect fit. In this way, temporary employment is a stable way to explore different potential careers and experience different employers’ cultures without making an initial long-term commitment.

While looking for the best job, programmers and developers can work as temporary employees, getting income and experience plus more information about the ideal fit for their skills and interests. This then provides more flexibility to jump to better job positions as the opportunities arise.

That flexibility is especially important when programmers are aiming toward a career change to SEO or a similar aspect of their development expertise. With options to try out different possibilities without making long-term commitments, programmers can still stay online, keeping the pulse of what’s happening in programming, while enjoying the confidence of having stable employment during the job search.

This type of stable flexibility makes it possible to maintain an updated and robust developer LinkedIn profile to find their dream programming job while continuing to work the whole time. With this established understanding of the benefits of this type of balance, let’s look into the rights afforded to the programmers and developers who do this type of temporary work.

Possibility for Benefit Qualification

Not all temporary IT jobs give programmers and developers the same opportunities, so it’s important to recognize what the range of possibilities could be. In some cases, temporary workers are employees of the agency that places them in positions, making them eligible for benefits offered through the agency. Working full-time hours, even if spread across more than one part-time placement, brings eligibility for full-time benefits.

Temporary workers placed through a full-service agency can depend on their placement services to explain to them the benefits options for their matched opportunities.

In other cases, temporary workers are employees of the organization where they are working, and so they are entitled to all the same rights as any other employee at that organization. The company should provide the information as to what rights these employees have. Whether temp workers are considered full employees at their current company or not, federal and state employment laws apply. The laws for what benefits are required for temp workers vary from state to state.

One of the most notable rights of temp workers is the right to a clearly defined employment agreement including length of term and payment specifications. That explanation should include recognition of what benefits are covered. Working with a temp hiring agency allows temp workers to understand the scope of their employment agreement offer, with support on evaluating the agreement’s merit and potentially negotiating for different terms when applicable.

While paid time off, holidays, and healthcare benefits will not be a part of every temporary IT job, some programmers and developers will get access to those benefits, depending on how many hours they work and the terms of their contract. Staffing agencies can help programmers and developers navigate the uncertainty so temp workers know what benefits they qualify for and how that would look in their positions.

Understanding ERISA: Retirement Plan Considerations

In addition to the state requirements, federal guidelines do apply for temporary employee rights and benefits: most notably, ERISA. Under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), temporary employees who work for at least 1,000 hours within a 12-month period will automatically qualify for that company’s retirement plans. Even if they do not meet the requirements of the 1,000-hour rule, temporary employees are still protected by labor laws which dictate various types of benefits.

Benefits vary from state to state, so it’s important to research the laws of your state. For example, some states might require all employers who employ temps at least half-time to provide them with health insurance while others may stipulate one week of vacation per year or sick leave.

Understanding the ACA: Health Insurance Coverage

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires employers to offer health insurance to any employee working at least 30 hours per week (or 130 hours per month). Temp employees working full-time or almost full-time will fall into this category. That means that even if you’re only working with a company for a few months, during that time, they need to give an option for health insurance coverage. That should be a clear section in the employment agreement.

Leave and Vacation Time

Depending on the agreement, temp workers can qualify for sick leave, holidays, and paid time off. Just like for regular workers, benefits vary significantly from company to company and position to position. It’s worth investing time up front to discover the details for your particular circumstances. Temp work agreements should make specifications here, but any ambiguities should be addressed up front with the employer.

Unsure of the Rights? Just Ask!

If you’re considering temporary employment as a programmer or developer, make sure to prioritize your knowledge of the associated rights and benefits. Any uncertainty on benefits offered or possible options—from health insurance coverage to sick leave—should be resolved before accepting your assignment. The staffing agency as well as the terms of the temporary work arrangement will clearly explain these rights and benefits. With that clearly understood, you can focus on what programmers and developers do best—computer work!

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Best Practices for Mobile UX Designs https://simpleprogrammer.com/best-practices-mobile-ux-designs/ Wed, 10 Aug 2022 14:00:04 +0000 https://simpleprogrammer.com/?p=41376 As per a report compiled by Statista in 2021, the number of mobile users worldwide stood at 7.1 billion. It is expected to upsurge and reach a whopping 7.49 billion users by 2025! With that estimate, it is clear that there will also be an increase in mobile applications. With millions of mobile applications already...

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mobile ux designAs per a report compiled by Statista in 2021, the number of mobile users worldwide stood at 7.1 billion. It is expected to upsurge and reach a whopping 7.49 billion users by 2025! With that estimate, it is clear that there will also be an increase in mobile applications.

With millions of mobile applications already present on the Google Play Store and Apple App Store, it is indeed tough for a designer to choose the right inspiration.

But have you ever wondered what hooks a user on one particular application despite the various other mobile apps available to them? Flawless user interface (UI) design and intuitive user experience (UX) design are two of the key factors.

The first impression of a mobile application is always related to UI/UX design. Hence, mobile app designers must closely track the latest and best UI/UX design trends. Here’s a glance at some of the best practices to design mobile apps in 2022.

How Can Mobile UI/UX Design Be More User-Friendly?

UI/UX design is the process of creating apps and software that can be seamlessly navigated and smoothly configured across various mobile screen sizes.

So, let’s learn more about the mobile UI/UX design best practices that will prevail in 2022.

1. Air Gesture

When mobile phones are integrated with amazing UX, using them becomes engaging. This example involves using body gestures to perform an action; the hand can be swiped in front of the screen to take a screenshot (as shown below).

mobile ux designs
SOURCE: Samsungtechwin.Com

It is quite simple to use. A lot of Android phones manufactured by Samsung, Xiaomi, Google, and other android mobile manufacturers have integrated this feature into their flagship phones.

A significant advantage of using air gestures lies in its intuitiveness. Different gestures like swiping fingers left and right or up and down are integrated for controlling various navigation on the device. In short, gestures are here to stay.

2. Scrollytelling

That’s not a typo—you’re reading it right! Scrollytelling is a fusion of ‘scrolling’ and ‘storytelling’, wherein designers use techniques such as parallax scrolling to eliminate the monotony of static images.

mobile ux design
SOURCE: Moooi.com

The dynamic interaction of text, audio, and visuals creates a rhythmic flow. Moooi is one such example that uses parallax scrolling. The effects on the website give a pleasing visual tour as if the contents are exhibited in a museum.

3. The Rule of Thumb

When the UI design ideas are boggling your mind, and you don’t know where to begin, pay attention to the thumb zone. Many mobile users operate their devices single-handedly, with a vast majority using one thumb.

The ‘thumb zone’ is the area of the screen where your thumb can easily reach for scrolling, swiping, and reaching tab bars.

mobile ux designs
SOURCE: Miro.medium.com

The heatmap above clarifies the natural positioning of the thumb along with “ow” and “stretch” zones. You can see that the percentage of the area of reachability decreases with increasing mobile screen sizes.

4. Voice Search

“Hey Alexa, play MONTERO by Lil Nas X!”

People often use voice commands to simplify their search or when they want to take a break from typing.

Voice search shows the result just by the individual’s voice command. The feature of voice search was integrated after heavy user research by brands.

Although it was introduced a decade ago, people became familiar with its convenience more recently. Hence, voice search is a fresh addition to the list of UX design best practices. Several e-commerce websites and mobile applications have integrated the feature for consumers to use.

SOURCE: Statista

The graph predicts the expected growth of the use of voice assistants across the globe. By 2024, the number of users is projected to rise to 8.4 billion!

5. Virtual Reality

Virtual reality (VR) is a technological revolution. Globally renowned brands like IKEA, Apple, and BMW have integrated VR for a surprisingly seamless experience for their consumers.

mobile ux designs
SOURCE: IKEA

This is because the VR market is expected to grow from five billion to 12 billion dollars by 2024. Previously, the IKEA app allowed its users to place their furniture virtually. But with the new update, users can capture the whole room plan and redesign it accordingly.

6. Emotive Interaction

Humans are emotional beings. Injecting emotion into mobile applications is a clever mobile UI design trend. Many brands like Duolingo and MailChimp have been using this trend in their respective applications.

SOURCE: 99designs

Animations and other visual effects, like the ones you see above, mimic human interactions. Similarly, Duolingo has characters that applaud the user when they complete a task and reward them with points.

7. Concise UX Writing

If users are not able to find what they are looking for, they’ll simply exit the app. So, how can we avoid this? The answer lies in microcopy—the tiny bits of copy on buttons and input fields that guide users through their experience within an app.

Microcopy is a vital aspect of mobile UX design—if the microcopy does not guide the user seamlessly through the application, they will find the experience frustrating. Put simply, instead of decorating the content with fluff, it is always better to deliver the message as concisely and informatively as possible.

Google stated that their engagement rate rose by 17% when the microcopy was revised from “hotel rooms” to “check availability” for better reservation results. Even the smallest copy matters in UI/UX design!

Bonus Tips

Read on for a few extra tips to avoid committing design blunders!

  • Avoid aimless revamping

When you do not have a clear goal for injecting something new into the app’s UX design, abort the mission! Your needless update may have the opposite effect you want; you may shock the user instead of delighting them.

  • Don’t forget to prototype

Another blunder that you must steer clear of is not performing adequate testing. Multi-stage tests on an app ensure that you are heading in the right direction. Never skip the prototyping stage!

  • Keep it simple

It is always better to declutter instead of stuffing unneeded elements into the design. If you think there is something that can be removed from the design without sacrificing functionality, remove it.

That’s All, Folks!

You now know all the latest UI/UX design trends that will prevail in 2022. These modern trends are about creative scrolling, visualizing the data, and offering a seamless experience to users. However, keep in mind the UX design blunders that are mistaken for trends.

All these trends will work for mobile app designers; however, you must figure out the proper requisites for the business and users before implementing the changes. Now, go forth—the world of UI/UX design awaits!

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The Programmer’s Guide to Health & Well-Being in Challenging Times https://simpleprogrammer.com/developers-wellness-challenging-times/ Mon, 08 Aug 2022 14:00:41 +0000 https://simpleprogrammer.com/?p=41318 Staying physically and emotionally healthy during challenging times is never easy. And it’s safe to say that the past few years have been nothing if not challenging. Between the pandemic, war, climate change, and an inflation rate that’s managed to hit a 40-year high, there have been plenty of external stressors going around for everyone....

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developers wellnessStaying physically and emotionally healthy during challenging times is never easy. And it’s safe to say that the past few years have been nothing if not challenging. Between the pandemic, war, climate change, and an inflation rate that’s managed to hit a 40-year high, there have been plenty of external stressors going around for everyone. And, if you’re working as a programmer, chances are you’ve dealt with some stressful career challenges too—at least from time to time.

Research has shown that unmanaged stress leads to various health problems, including heart disease, obesity, diabetes, depression, and accelerated aging. So, your focus should be on protecting your physical and mental wellness, especially during trying times.

But even if you’re not going through a difficult time at work right now, keeping your health in check is essential. Studies have shown that IT professionals tend to score lower than average when it comes to their well-being. In fact, a 2015 study surveying 1,000 IT professionals revealed that:

  • 56% had musculoskeletal symptoms
  • 22% were diagnosed with hypertension
  • 10% suffered from diabetes
  • 36% had high cholesterol levels
  • 54% suffered from depression, anxiety, insomnia; and
  • 40% were obese.

And, if you look at more recent data about employee well-being, you’ll find that the top three causes of long-term absence in the UK in 2021 included mental health issues (affecting 50% of respondents), musculoskeletal injuries (48%), and stress (48%). Minor illnesses and COVID-19 also contributed to employee absenteeism over the past 12 months, but their impact was felt mostly on a short-term scale.

The good thing is that people (and employers) are beginning to realize the importance of staying healthy. The wellness market is rapidly growing (valued at $4.37 trillion in 2020 with a projected growth of $7 trillion by 2025). Additionally, more than 50% of people are looking to prioritize health-related issues over the course of 2022.

But what, exactly, does it take to maintain (or even improve) your overall health in challenging times?

Well, it could be argued that the best way to go about it is to make gradual changes and address each of the six aspects of your well-being so your body and mind are prepared to deal with the stressors life keeps throwing at you.

This post includes suggestions for how to do just that—optimize your wellness in a way that will help you mitigate the consequences of stress, whether you know you’ve got a challenging period ahead of you at work or just want to be prepared for whenever life decides to throw a curveball your way. Moreover, it provides some helpful tips for assessing your overall wellness, dealing with large amounts of stress (both at work and home), knowing when to push or take it easy, and achieving a work-life balance while working a high-stakes job.

Physical Wellness

The first step toward making positive changes to your overall well-being is getting a clear image of the current state of your health.

Generally, the recommendation is to have a routine checkup once every three years, increasing the frequency to once per year after age 50.

Every time you go in for a checkup, your doctor will run the necessary tests to determine your overall state of health. And more importantly, they will give you recommendations regarding what areas of your physical well-being you need to address (along with prescribing any necessary therapy or medication you may require).

However, if you regularly encounter high-stress situations, your priority should be safeguarding your well-being. And there’s plenty that you can do yourself in case you don’t always have access to quality healthcare or simply prefer to stay on top of the state of your physical wellness.

Practice Self-Assessment

The best way to improve your overall health is to become actively involved in your physical well-being.

  • Measure your BMI with freely available online tools.
  • Set up your wearables to track your heart rate and alert you of any irregularities.
  • Track your blood pressure (with a home blood pressure monitor or at your local pharmacy).

These activities will only take up a few minutes of your time per day. Yet, they’ll give you valuable insights into the state of your well-being, allowing you to take better control of your physical wellness.

Track Health Issues

The second easy thing you can do to get a better idea of your overall physical well-being is to set up a health tracking system. This will give you an in-depth database regarding the state of your physical health and, more importantly, will help draw attention to recurring symptoms, allowing you to track their root cause and seek any necessary medical attention on time.

Notion has a few detailed health and wellness-oriented templates you can use to track your well-being. However, any note-taking app (or the generic health app on your phone) will work equally well for recording daily health metrics.

Be Open to Acknowledging Your Body’s Limitations

Lastly, as you endeavor to invest time and energy into boosting your physical well-being, don’t forget to account for the fact that you’re only human. And that means your body is not perfect.

Yes, most of us will deal with some acute or chronic health issues (especially as we pass the age of 30). Accepting the fact that the third cup of coffee after lunch, a three-hour training session, or that extra glass of wine aren’t doing us any favors is crucial in ensuring that our physical condition is the best it can be.

Fitness

Physical activity is essential for health and well-being. Yet, have you noticed that the moment you start experiencing high amounts of stress, the first thing that seems to go is your fitness regime?

If you have, you can rest assured that it’s not just you. In fact, a literature overview that looked at the results of 168 studies examining the influence of stress on physical activity concluded that “psychological stress predicts less PA (behavioral inhibition) and/or exercise or more sedentary behavior.

But even though putting exercise on the back burner to allow yourself time to cope with life’s challenges may seem logical, science suggests that it’s the exact opposite of what you should be doing.

Physical activity is an excellent way to de-stress; research suggests that some forms of exercise might actually be the key to properly managing stress.

According to Harvard Health, aerobic exercise reduces adrenaline and cortisol and stimulates the production of endorphins—the hormones making you feel relaxed and optimistic.

So, if you’re dealing with overwhelming situations at home or work, why not put on a good pair of walking shoes and go for a 30-minute stroll around a nearby park during your lunch break or after work? Even a short stroll will get your creative juices flowing.

Plus, a study from 2018 discovered that walking in nature was one of the most effective ways to lower cortisol levels, more helpful than just exercise or viewing nature scenes through a screen. So, if you’re looking for ways to de-stress, perhaps you should put down your phone and choose to go to a nearby park instead. Or, better yet, incorporate walking in natural settings into your weekly routine and reserve the weekend for a fun hiking adventure.

If walking, running, or a HIIT session doesn’t feel appealing while you deal with life’s challenges, you can still reap the benefits of physical activity while taking things a bit slower.

A quick way to slow down during high-stress situations and soothe your anxiety is to do a few minutes of breathing exercises, which you can even do at the office. If you have an Apple Watch, make sure to check out the stock Mindfulness app that was introduced in the 2021 software update. Or, if you don’t use wearables, you could play around with an app like Endel, which uses neuroscientific data to create relaxing and focus-boosting soundscapes.

Finally, understand that physical activity isn’t just about preventing physical health issues or managing stress. It’s a key component in keeping depression and anxiety under control, which is crucial seeing as many programmers are affected by mental health issues. So, knowing that stopping exercise can result in increased depressive symptoms, according to a study from the University of Adelaide, do your best not to neglect your physical fitness, even when things get tough.

If exercise isn’t currently a part of your overall well-being routine, try to incorporate it into your everyday life by starting slowly and adding activities you enjoy.

Nutrition

Most people engage in some sort of unhealthy eating behavior when stressed or overwhelmed. For example, the American Psychological Association has found that almost 40% of adults overeat or eat unhealthy foods to deal with stress, and 30% skip meals due to the same factor.

This, in itself, is worrying enough.

Now, consider the stereotype of the programmer who lives off junk food. It may not always be true, but it’s—at least partially—rooted in real-life experience. So, it becomes evident that developers need to pay particularly close attention to their nutrition. Even more so, considering that their profession strongly encourages a sedentary lifestyle.

And remember, unhealthy eating habits aren’t just a symptom. They can also be the underlying cause of several physical and mental health issues.

For instance, we know that high sugar and fat intake comes with a list of severe consequences to our physical health. And one research article from 2016 discovered that eating a predominantly Western diet could lead to a higher risk of depression, anxiety, and heightened stress response.

So, as you explore ways to take care of your health and well-being during challenging times, don’t forget to pay attention to your nutrition.

  • Start by determining exactly how much you need to eat. An online macro calculator can give you a good idea of what nutrients to look for in a healthy and balanced meal without limiting yourself to a specific diet.
  • Track your calorie intake with an app such as Lifesum or MyFitnessPal. These will give you a good overview of the types of food you’re eating, stop you from eating too much or too little, and encourage you to take a more proactive approach to stick to a healthier diet.
  • Prioritize foods that fight the negative consequences of stress. These include foods rich in Omega 3 fatty acids (nuts, avocados, and fish oils), vegetables rich in vitamins and minerals (like leafy greens), and high-fiber foods. For more information on this, we highly recommend you read The Better Brain: Overcome Anxiety, Combat Depression, and Reduce ADHD and Stress with Nutrition by Bonnie J. Kaplan and Julia Rucklidge.
  • Limit your intake of stimulants such as caffeine and sugar, as these inhibit your body’s ability to relax. Moreover, when consumed in excess, they can cause you to feel overwhelmed even if you’re only dealing with small amounts of stress.

Appearance

Most people don’t view their physical appearance as an indicator of their overall well-being.

But if you want to holistically improve your physical and emotional health—and your ability to handle high-stress situations—you should consider all the ways you could invest in yourself. Even if that only includes something as “superficial” as how you dress, style your hair, or your skincare routine.

Now, the fact that stressful situations directly affect the way we look isn’t a new concept. For example, we know that long-term stress exposure makes acne worse and speeds up the process of skin aging. Similarly, a study from 2020 found that acute stress causes the depletion of melanocyte stem cells, which results in gray hair. And one research study even found that stress and depression impact people’s choice of clothes.

But what, exactly, does investing in your physical appearance have to do with maintaining your health during challenging times?

Well, one study from 2019 discovered that how people see themselves, i.e., their level of appearance judgment, directly impacts their cortisol response, self-assessed stress levels, and depressive symptoms. In other words, the worse we feel in our skin, the lower our chances are of being able to deal with pressure.

So, if you want to make sure that you’re doing everything in your power to prepare your body and mind to deal with stressful situations, invest in your appearance. Play around with skincare products you like, make salon appointments, or book a spa day every once in a while. As long as it makes you feel better about your appearance, it’s guaranteed to be beneficial in helping you handle life’s challenges.

Sleep

It’s not exactly news that going through trying times has a disruptive effect on sleep quality. Feeling stressed can make it more difficult to fall asleep. Plus, it can cause you to wake up during the night. And, sure, feeling groggy after a poor night’s sleep may not seem like that big of a deal. But because chronic sleep deprivation weakens the metabolism and disrupts endocrine function, it’s safe to say that ensuring you get plenty of rest makes for a super-important aspect of staying healthy during challenging times.

Unfortunately, most IT professionals aren’t that good at prioritizing sleep.

According to data published by Core in 2020, 74% of IT professionals get less than eight hours of sleep per night. And according to the APA, adults who sleep fewer than eight hours a night report higher stress levels than those who pay attention to healthy sleep hygiene. From this information alone, it becomes clear that prioritizing rest could be an effective strategy to help you stay healthy during high-stress life events.

But what does it take to get your sleeping patterns under control when dealing with work-related stress? Well, there are a few easy strategies you could implement to ensure you get higher-quality rest each night.

Blue light emitted from computer and smartphone screens directly affects your circadian rhythm, delaying your body’s natural production of melatonin. But, something as simple as limiting your screen time in the afternoon and at night can give you a chance to wind down and fall asleep more easily.

If you have to work late due to a looming deadline or an emergency, dim your screen. Furthermore, set the color temperature to be warmer, or even wear a pair of blue light blocking glasses to minimize the consequences of working before bed.

Another great thing you can do to improve sleep quality is to ensure your bedroom is a sleep-only zone. Many of us are guilty of bringing our laptops into the bedroom—especially when working from home. This lack of boundaries makes it more difficult for our brains to associate rest time with the bedroom, which is often enough to make it difficult to fall asleep at night.

You could also try to optimize your physical space for maximum sleep performance. Try to sleep on a comfortable bed to prevent body aches. Set your thermostat to somewhere between 60 and 67 degrees. Add a couple of plants to your bedroom to ensure better air quality. And invest in some blackout curtains to limit light and noise pollution at night.

Mindfulness

Finally, as you attempt to maintain your health during stressful times in your life, don’t forget that wellness doesn’t just relate to your physical state. Much more than that, well-being should also incorporate emotional resilience, which is crucial in allowing you to take on professional and personal challenges and get through them without becoming overwhelmed or burning out.

So, whether you’re dealing with tough times or want to prepare yourself for future trials, invest time and effort into building mental strength and developing healthy coping mechanisms for stressful situations.

One of the easiest ways to invest in your mental health is to make time for your hobbies. A recent scientific study examined the connection between long working hours and mental well-being. What’s fascinating about the results is that having hobbies helped workers mitigate the effects of a stressful work environment.

So, it’s clear that taking the time to do what you love like working on puzzles, practicing mindfulness while paddleboarding, or playing video games—represents an excellent strategy for safeguarding your emotional health. However, considering the fact that, as a developer, you probably spend the majority of your work hours sitting in front of a screen, try to choose hobbies that will encourage you to incorporate more movement into your day or spend some additional time in a natural setting.

Another excellent way to invest in your well-being during challenging times is to seek more opportunities to spend time with friends and family. According to Psychology Today, the benefits of having an active social life include longevity, a stronger immune system, lower levels of depression, and improved memory and cognitive skills.

When dealing with high-stress situations, our most common reaction is to push through. But while putting up with some stress may be necessary at times, doing it all the time takes a toll on our overall well-being. This is why it’s so important to know when enough is enough.

For one, do your best to limit how many hours you work. Block out hours in the afternoon to practice your hobbies. Enforce a hard-stop time at the office. And try to commit to viewing your free time as non-negotiable—without sacrificing your commitment to work, of course. Or, if you’re looking for a more advanced approach to work-life balance, take inspiration from Tim Ferriss’ The 4-Hour Workweek

Secondly, take regular time away from work and, ideally, try to change your physical environment. A well-planned vacation is a great way to de-stress, become energized, and boost your happiness levels. However, to reap the benefits of stepping away from work, do your best to avoid travel stress by learning to find affordable flights, staying at a highly-rated hotel, and planning your visit in advance.

Finally, as you explore strategies that will help boost your emotional well-being, don’t forget that a lot of the pressure you feel comes from your own expectations. So, assess whether you could be more forgiving toward yourself. 

Do your best to prioritize what really matters in life. And consider whether giving yourself the freedom to take things slow most days might just give you the energy you need to push hard when it’s actually necessary.

Take Your Health and Well-Being Into Your Own Hands

At the end of the day, taking care of your physical and emotional wellness is a responsibility. But, it’s also an investment worth making.

Not only will being happy and healthy allow you to feel good in your skin, but it will also ensure that you are productive and satisfied at work. Plus, it will enable you to tackle any challenge without it becoming too much too soon.

The post The Programmer’s Guide to Health & Well-Being in Challenging Times appeared first on Simple Programmer.

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PHP Web Development: Is it Time to Retire the Old Workhorse? https://simpleprogrammer.com/php-web-development-retire-old/ Fri, 05 Aug 2022 14:00:38 +0000 https://simpleprogrammer.com/?p=41293 PHP is the mainstay of the world wide web today. Over three quarters of all the sites in the world are powered by PHP at the moment. When it comes to server-side programming languages, PHP—Hypertext Preprocessor, for those who came in late—has no competition. And yet, there are significant undercurrents in the developer community against...

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PHP is the mainstay of the world wide web today. Over three quarters of all the sites in the world are powered by PHP at the moment. When it comes to server-side programming languages, PHP—Hypertext Preprocessor, for those who came in late—has no competition.

php web development
Source

And yet, there are significant undercurrents in the developer community against PHP. PHP is the most hated mainstream programming language after the obvious culprits such as C, Perl, Assembly and VBA—probably due to the perception that it’s a clunky and old language compared to more modern ones such as Python. Even C++, Java and Ruby fare better, according to a Stack Overflow survey. And it’s the butt of frequent jokes in the community.

So why did PHP lose its popularity over the years, despite having a strong installed base?

We already know it’s the mainstay of today’s web. However, will it remain so tomorrow? It is standing its ground amidst a barrage of new technology and scripting languages—both old and new. Let’s examine the challenges, pros and cons in using PHP to build websites while we answer these questions.

The Reality of the Web is Interwoven with that of PHP

Even if all developers and webmasters resolved to stop using PHP today, they couldn’t because WordPress, the most common and most popular content management system (CMS) on the internet, is written on PHP. A staggering 43% of sites today run WordPress—and the number is only slated to increase, as per data from W3Techs.

But you may be forgiven for thinking that PHP is used primarily as a base for CMS. A technology so deeply entrenched and with such a large community cannot live or die on the back of one application. Here’s what over 600 development teams all over the world are using PHP for at the moment, according to the Zend PHP Landscape report:

php web development
Source

So what’s the problem? Why are we even talking about the need for or future of PHP?

What’s Wrong with PHP?

PHP was never intended to be a widely used programming language. The man who created PHP in 1995—Rasmus Lerdorf—is known for bashing his creation as well as his own programming skills. “I really don’t like programming. I built PHP to program less so that I could just reuse code,” Lerdorf reportedly said.

In an interview with SitePoint, he went one step further in belittling PHP. “PHP is about as exciting as your toothbrush. Who would want to read about toothbrushes?”

Given the unintuitive, unremarkable and inconsistent nature of PHP’s syntax as well as the poor design principles it is built on, many developers agree with Lerdorf in principle. Even though PHP is a whole 27 years old, it’s only in its eighth major version. The pace of updates and incremental updates to the core is painstakingly slow and erratic.

Speaking of unintuitive and unremarkable, there is the question of the alternatives and comparable languages.

The closest competitor—in terms of perceived and visible popularity—is Python, which developers love for its simplicity and flexibility. Python is a server-side language like PHP but it’s designed in a way that developers need to write a lot less code. While barely a fraction of websites run on Python today, it has emerged as the #1 choice for AI and ML programming as well as anything related to big data.

Then there is JavaScript. While it’s a client-side scripting language (and so, an apples-to-oranges comparison with PHP), the rise of Node.js and other frameworks for JavaScript facilitates server-side scripting as well as full-stack development, which PHP doesn’t. JavaScript fuels single-page applications such as Google Drive, where the page is re-rendered at lightning speed using data from API calls, eliminating browser refreshes. This would be pretty hard to replicate using PHP—it involves writing a lot of code in a roundabout way just to achieve what can be done quite simply with JS.

So what’s keeping PHP alive and kicking?

What’s Right with PHP?

PHP has many great things going for it, not least the sheer number of websites it powers.

Tried and tested code

An undeniable advantage of PHP is that every imaginable function has been written, shipped and used over the past 27 years. There is barely anything you can’t make a PHP-based website do. Developers can rest easy knowing that any issue that comes to the fore has been (or will be eventually) faced and resolved.

Huge community

While the latest breed of developers has come to hate it, veteran developers have built entire careers on PHP. They’ve put a ton of tips, tutorials and FAQs out there that answers pretty much any question even an experienced developer can have.

This is a good thing for businesses and organizations too—if you’re looking to build a website or web application, you have a huge pool of skilled and knowledgeable developers to choose from.

Extendibility

Given its long history and community of expert developers, PHP has amassed a massive library of functionalities, plugins, frameworks and so on over the years. There’s hardly anything that you might need to code from scratch. PHP frameworks such as Laravel, CodeIgniter and Yii speed up and standardize development on top of ready-made, generic functionality.

Further, there are also a ton of sites that provide readymade PHP scripts for niche-specific functionality like ecommerce carts, listings, polls, calendar booking, etc. that allow you to accelerate the application development life cycle without foregoing performance.

Database connectivity

The biggest advantage PHP has over competing languages like Python is its database connectivity. PHP connects securely and easily with almost any kind of database, giving developers the leeway to choose from a wide variety of database programs available today. It also serves to improve their productivity by focusing on app and service development rather than database integrations.

Versatility

PHP is free and open source in every sense of the terms, unlike other programming languages, applications and operating systems. This means PHP has a vast number of developers constantly providing support, implementing cutting-edge features, fixing bugs and vulnerabilities, and adding new components.

PHP comes pre-installed on web servers in the form of a “LAMP” box (Linux, Apache MySQL, PHP). And yet, it’s platform-independent—you can run it on Windows, Mac OS or Linux. What’s more, it supports every browser you’ve probably heard of.

The Verdict

To answer the question in the title, this article is delivered to you by a website that’s built on PHP. That makes the verdict pretty clear, if you ask me!

Yes, PHP is losing popularity—it ranks 10th on the list of most popular programming, scripting and markup languages in Stack Overflow’s latest developer survey. PHP developers are also the second lowest paid among their peers.

And yet, PHP is the language that SHOWS UP in the survey year after year. And therein lies its strength. Newbie developers can safely bet that PHP will be around—and Stack Overflow will be including it in its surveys—10 years from now.

Over the last two decades, developers have never stopped building sites in PHP while constantly improving its open source codebase. PHP has withstood the test of time—and outlasted numerous web technologies during its 20-year reign at the heart of the internet. If you ask me, it’s not going anywhere anytime soon.

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