Software Development

Java Developers Are The Hardest IT Professionals To Find Claims Survey

June 5, 2013 by Raj Agrawal Leave a Comment

A survey of more than 850 technology-focussed hiring managers carried out last year by an American IT employment website found that recruiters cited Java developer jobs as the toughest positions to fill, after mobile, .NET and software developer roles.

In fact, employers said these vacancies were up to three times more frequently cited than other skill sets in the jobs marketplace, reported the research.

Also on the list of the top 10 hardest to find skill sets were:

Security
SAP
Web development
SharePoint
Network engineering

When asked to express a preference for the level of experience required, recruiters were likeliest to choose for between two and five years’ experience, meaning the most sought after roles in tech are graduate IT jobs or opportunities for second-jobbers.

There are a couple of reasons for this strong competition for the best people, including the fact that all companies are chasing the same pool of talent, while cuts to training budgets in the downturn have meant that opportunities for internal talent development aren’t as widespread as they may once have been.

Indeed, there has been a trend for shifting responsibility for staff training to the employee, especially given the fact that recruiters say they anticipate that most tech professionals will stay with their employer no more than three years, a turnover which makes extensive investment in training and development tough.

Speaking the Java lingo

To make the most of these openings and become a Java developer, you’ll need to make your knowledge of this programming language as good as it can be. There are various ways of doing that, including:

Web-based tutorials – there are plenty of these, from beginner to advanced level
Textbooks – an easier way of learning the language than you may have realised
University or college courses – these may be an especially good option if you prefer group learning with an instructor to teaching yourself.

Start your own Java project

Develop your Java skills with a specific project – it can be anything you like. Put the theory you have learnt so far into practice so that you increase your knowledge of the development language and make the best use of the IDE.

A project will give you practical experience of developing your own code, debugging, and following best practice. Learning is one thing, but it’s only when you’ve had first-hand experience that you will develop your skills. Build applications or websites using Java and be prepared to discuss them articulately at interview stage.

Nailing that job

If you’re still relatively new to Java and without previous professional experience, set your sights on entry-level roles. You will still need to demonstrate your abilities, which is where your project comes in.

You may also want to consider getting certified. One certification you could start off with is the Sun Certified Java Associate (SCJA). This will stand entry-level Java developers in good stead and be of benefit when looking for work as a Java programmer.

Finally, to maximise your chances of bagging your dream Java developer job, upload your CV on Jobsite so employers can find you easily. You’ll also get personalised job email alerts in your inbox.

Visual Studio 2011 – Confirmed Features In The Upcoming Iteration

April 8, 2012 by Raj Agrawal 1 Comment

Visual Studio 2011 is the next iteration to Microsoft’s esteemed development platform. It provides a range of tools to help the users develop almost any type of applications ranging from offline applications to server applications requiring online connectivity. Visual Studio has always been the leader when it comes to application development, and the upcoming version proposes to improve it even further. So without further ado, lets look at some of the features the newest version stands to offer.

Metro Application Development Support

This is by far the most important and anticipated feature of Visual Studio 2011. It provides support for Windows 8 specific Metro UI applications which can be built as extensions to the current applications. It includes a set of templates that can help you create Metro style apps using JavaScript, Vb, C# and C++. It also allows you to seamlessly redesign your app by simply opening it from Visual Studio and then changing the style using JavaScript. This can be achieved using a new feature called Expression Blend. This feature allows you to run your applications as live apps rather than static layouts. Hence, you can control the design of the application as it runs in real time. This is especially useful given the dynamic nature of HTML.

Game design enhancements

Many tools to enhance the game design process have been integrated into Visual Studio 2011. It comes packed with a slew of visual design, development, and debugging tools, which greatly improve upon the game design experience. It also allows you to design 2d/3d games and Metro UI apps.

Code enhancement and Re-usability tools

Visual Studio has always sought to improve the quality of code by refactoring it. This is taken a step further in Visual Studio 2011. Now, instead of being purely developer dependent, Visual Studio will scan the logic of the code developed by you and try and factor the code into methods which can be user later in the program. And this is done not just by scanning through identical blocks of code; Visual Studio searches for semantically similar blocks based on heuristics developed by Microsoft Research.

Reviewing Code

Visual Studio 2011 works in collaboration with Team Foundation Server to provide application life-cycle management. Code can be reviewed in Visual Studio 2011 in collaboration with developers with the help of team viewer.

Exploratory Testing

Exploratory Testing is a new feature of Visual Studio 2011 which lets the user perform testing operation without any formal test planning. No need to write test cases or create a test plan now; testing can begin straight away. Each time a test is performed, a full log of the test scan is recorded. This tool also allows the user to generate a bug list, which records all the bugs encountered during testing. After testing is complete, the user can view the test result in the Microsoft test manager and review the test scan and take a further course of action.

Other Features you’ll see in the 2011 version

In addition to the aforementioned features, Visual Studio 2011 also has the following benefits over its predecessors,

Support for development of cloud computing applications.
Solid integration with HTML 5 and CSS3.
ASP.Net MVC4.
It includes a new template for mobile development which makes mobile development easier and more efficient.
New and more improved version of JavaScript to make the programmers life even easier.
New profile which lets the user choose between building the application and publishing it.
Visual Studio 2011 now supports web socket protocol which helps in server to client data transfer. It has support for both ASP.net 5 and IIS 8, so that we can easily read and write data into a socket object.

PS: The Beta versions have been out quite since a while and you can get them from Microsoft’s website.

Via [CodingHub, MSDN]

Visual Studio 2012 To Feed A Lazy Programmer In You? (Spoof)

July 26, 2011 by Raj Agrawal 5 Comments

Visual Studio 2012 – Microsoft is all set to release the next increment of its popular development environment. Visual Studio 2010 has made and continues to make a huge impact on the IDE market. The new iteration seems more titled towards convenience, rather too much. But eh, it’s not bad all the way though!

(Spoof)

With so much for me to yet discover and learn about the Visual Studio 2012, i’m excited to discuss about its next version and all it’s offering to the development community. Here are some of the few fascinating features that I have discovered so far.

Resize the code window:

This is a feature that you can use while writing your code. You can maximize the code window by selecting it, thus hiding your solution explorer and the output window.

Edit your code during execution:

This was possible before way back in the 1990’s in Visual Basic 6, but now you can do this in Visual Studio 2012. You can pause your code during execution, modify it and then the compiler handles the rest for you.

Google your errors:

A real handy feature for all developers, for all the obvious reasons.

Automated addition of semi-colons:

Will probably help reduce the number of silly mistakes while programming. Useful to compensate the programmer’s forgetfulness, when it comes to adding semi colons at the end of statements. There are potential rumours that the compiler may also add closing brackets and braces. Damn you Microsoft for making the programmer’s work more convenient and lazy!

Copy-Pasting Codes:

A widely embraced feature by most lazy programmers and students. Copying and pasting code picked up from the internet will just become more convenient. Visual studio will now apply its own changes to the copied code and redevelop it for you so that it makes some sense.

Evil Code Monkey:

For all those who copy and paste code directly without even thinking for a second now have an evil monkey by their side. The hottest add-on to feature in the Visual Studio 2012, is the ‘IntelliSense’ feature. It is points out at the part of the code that has to be written the correct way and ask you to Google it on how to do it.

Have your code translated now:

Be it VB, C# or F#, while viewing your code, you can have it translated to any of these languages you wish to view your code in.

Add Reference Dialog:

A better “Add Reference” dialog that provides a blend of speed and flexibility as demanded by people earlier.

I hope you had a good laugh out of this brilliant skit for Visual Studio 2012, originally by and all credits to the creator – Ian Quigley.