We will talk about what factors to consider when choosing a programming specialization and perspectives for students who study programming, and then move on to an overview of the main directions in programming.
Table of Contents
Criteria for choosing a specialization in programming
First, a few words about the universal factors in choosing a profession, which you should definitely pay attention to.
- The situation in the labor market
Whatever area and programming language you choose, it is important to understand what awaits you in the future. This area is constantly evolving: some industries are at the peak of popularity, and others are gradually fading away.
Therefore, before embarking on training, it would be useful to assess the situation in the labor market. Are there any vacancies in your area of interest? How popular is this direction now, and how is it paid? Such a study will give you an idea of what prospects await in your chosen field.
- Difficulty of learning
Another factor to consider is the so-called entry threshold, that is, how much time and effort you have to put into learning a particular language before you can write good code in it. There are a lot of programming languages, and all of them differ not only in their capabilities in the implementation of software products but also in the complexity of mastering.
Ruby, Python, and PHP are considered the simplest. But even with them, there are difficulties in studying, especially when doing assignments. In this case, you can ask for programming homework help at specialized services. An expert who understands your programming language will be happy to help you.
- Interest
And, finally, an obvious but not losing its relevance advice. Look for an area that you like and are interested in. It would seem that this point might conflict with the previous two. After all, it may turn out that in order to study what you like, you will have to make a lot of effort and time, and at first, the salary will be significantly lower than that of colleagues in the shop. But just imagine that this is what you will be doing for, say, the next 5 or 10 years. How will you feel about it? Joy? Interest? Disgust? Fatigue?
Here it is important to find a reasonable balance between the demand for the direction and your own interest. Ultimately, if you become truly skilled, you can make good money in any field.
Perspectives for students who study programming
Embedded development
Almost all devices that surround us in everyday life (and not only) use microcircuits: cars, electric stoves, robotic vacuum cleaners, refrigerators, ATMs, washing machines, dishwashers, routers, and sewing machines… This list continues to expand every day. All these numerous devices work with the help of electronics that someone has to program. This is exactly what embedded developers do.
The main programming language used in this area is C++; there are also an assembler and JAVA, which are used mainly for low-level programming. The threshold for entry into this profession is quite high: C++ and assembler are not among the easiest languages. In addition, you will need to be well-versed in the equipment for which you will create programs.
Wages in this area are quite high. Embedded software development is an actively developing area. So if you like working with hardware and C++ is interesting to you, then this is a great choice.
Mobile application development (Android and iOS)
The development of applications for these operating systems is carried out in different languages, but these specializations are quite similar. The mobile software market is constantly evolving and continues to grow exponentially, in no small part due to the high competition in this area, and the demand for such specialists is huge.
There is a low threshold for entry in this direction – the creation of small applications is possible even at home. It is easy to gain experience in this area and build your own portfolio. An iOS application developer needs to learn the Objective-C and Swift programming languages (developed by Apple). To create applications on Android, you will need knowledge of Java, Kotlin, or C#.
Front-end developer
Another highly demanded and intensively developing area of programming is web development. A wide variety of goods and services are sold through the Internet. Now almost every company has at least the simplest website or representation in social networks, on marketplaces. And this means that the demand for web development specialists is high and will continue to grow.
Front-end is that part of the site or application that the user sees: pages and sections of the site, menus, interface, etc. Accordingly, a front-end developer is a specialist responsible for making the site or mobile application as user-friendly as possible.
This profession will require creative thinking: you need to come up with various forms of web design that will be intuitive for site visitors and find ways to implement them through programming. Such specialists are in demand both in small companies and in giants like Google, Microsoft, Apple, etc.
It is relatively easy to get started in this field; web development provides good opportunities for gaining experience and professional development. To work, a specialist needs to know JavaScript at a high level, know HTML, CSS, and server languages (Perl, PHP), and also be able to work with databases (MySQL).
In addition to technical education, it is important to have basic knowledge in the field of psychology, to understand the features of the human brain, perception, and cognitive processes.
Back-end developer
Another specialization in web programming is the back-end programmer. This is a specialist responsible for the server, a technical part of the site. Their responsibilities include developing the software and administrative part, in particular, the site core, creating a platform and its main functionality, working with code architecture and program logic, and monitoring the status of servers and databases.
The back-end programmer works in constant interaction with the front-end developer, receiving information from them about the opinions of users and making appropriate changes to the site.
These are the main perspective for students who study programming. You need to choose what specialization is the most suitable for you.