What are the skills required for software developer?

A junior software developer, with experience, is likely to progress to senior software developer and later to software architect or similar. Other opportunities for promotion could include team lead or manager.

There are four main types of software developer: systems developers, web developers, mobile developers and test automation developers. New entrants to the profession tend to specialize in one of these areas when they start.

Development tools are used by software developers to write and test code, often as a team. Common development tools include:

• deployment (eg Jenkins, Hudson): for ensuring the latest software release is packaged correctly, tested and deployed to an application server
• test driven development: for writing code to test your code
• integrated development environments (eg Eclipse, IntelliJ): for writing and editing code
• issue management systems (eg Jira): for managing a list of issues or improvements
• source control management: to enable teams to work together to manage changes to source code

Qualifications and training required

Apprenticeships in software development are advertised, so it is possible to enter this profession without a degree. For graduate positions, degrees in computer science, software development or similar are usually preferred.

However, a handful of employers don’t specify a degree subject and are willing to train you up if you demonstrate enthusiasm and the capacity to learn the relevant skills. There are routes into software development for both graduates and school leavers.

Key skills for software developers

• Programming languages
• Mathematical aptitude
• Excellent organisational and time management skills
• Teamwork skills
• Self-development skills to keep up to date with fast-changing trends
• Problem-solving skills
• An understanding of the latest trends and their role in a commercial environment
• Accuracy and attention to detail

Typical employers of software developers

• Banks
• Financial services firms
• Software development companies
• Public sector organizations
• Telecommunications companies
• Technology consultancies

Jobs are advertised online, by careers services and by recruitment agencies.

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Top 8 Website template to help you build a Super Site

These web templates are designed for Bootstrap, HTML5, Adobe Muse, WordPress, Tumblr, Jekyll, Perch, SASS, Statamic and Ghost. Using website templates as a starting point for your site might be frowned on by web designers and developers, but if you need a website quickly and don't have the skills or the time to craft your own HTML, then don't despair.

Here' we've rounded up some options that might open your eyes to the possibilities that website templates have to offer – at least when they're created by people who know what they're doing.

1. DashCore (WordPress)

DashCore is aimed at start-ups, developers, Saas, marketing and social. There's also a HTML version available. The price of $59 gets you decent support too, with 24/7 email support and clear, step-by-step documentation. DashCore is a lightweight and customisable WordPress theme. It's super responsive and has pre-built demos to help you get started.

2. Zeen (WordPress)

Zeen is a news and magazine WordPress theme that costs $59. There are plenty of extras here, including the ability to set your own gradients and compatibility with services such as MailChimp. For that, you get dark mode options for your visitors, voice search capabilities and a mix and match approach to building the site from various demos.

3. Wunderkind (Bootstrap)

Ultra smooth and sleek with a clean, modern layout that's extremely easy to customise, Wunderkind is a multipurpose template that's a great way to make your brand shine. It costs $19, is based on the latest Bootstrap and is designed to be developer-friendly. It features fullscreen touch-friendly sliders, video backgrounds and smooth, performant parallax, as well as plenty of gallery options.

4. TheNa (WordPress)

It costs $42. It comes with three portfolio template styles with lots of customisation options, plus two styles of blog template and a shortcode template with 18 modules for building other types of pages. Horizontal-scrolling sites are always a good way to make people pay attention to your site, and TheNa's a fantastic template to try if this a style you want to play with.

5. Tersus (Muse)

There are hundreds of fonts to choose from through Typekit, as well as integration with Wow.js and Animate.css for creating smooth reveal animations. For just $25 you get a collection of 14 ready-made high quality responsive template designs, many of them with must-have features such as parallax scrolling, full-screen video and dynamic slideshows. For a great way to create elegant and professional portfolios, take a look at Tersus for Adobe Muse CC (get Creative Cloud here).

6. Rhythm (HTML5)

This Bootstrap-powered HTML5 template features over 50 pre-built demo sites to work with, plus over 40 portfolio pages, with easy-to-customise backgrounds, colour schemes and content as well as parallax sections and deliciously smooth animation. Rhythm is a fully responsive template form single- and multi-page sites, and at just $17 it gives you plenty of features and choice for your money.

7. Composer (WordPress)

It spoils you for choice from the off, with over 50 ready-made demo sites for you to go to work with, covering just about every web design possibility, and it makes it easy to create your own layouts from scratch. Composer's not exactly cheap at $59, but you'll get a lot of use out of it.

It features ultra-responsive layouts and WooCommerce integration, comes complete with some free premium plugins, and the developers are always keen to receive suggestions for new designs and features.

8. Flaunt (Muse)

With over 50 slick hover effects for both images and text to choose from, you'll be able to create stand-out Muse sites without difficulty, and at just $16 Flaunt is a bargain buy, too.

As well as being a simple and fully responsive template, it bypasses Muse's hover effect restrictions with some custom CSS. If you're keen on cool hover effects but you're using Adobe Muse and finding it a little difficult to implement them, Flaunt may be the answer to your problems.

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