Pro Programming

If you are a developer then you might have experienced a few things in your team…

• Sometimes it’s difficult for you to make small changes in code.
• You break the functionality of software due to the changes you made in your code.
• You introduce a new bug while fixing the other one.
• You implement some unnecessary code which is not required in your application.
• Adding a new feature is difficult for you because of the complicated code.
• The never-shipping product
• You remove some code from your application and rewrite it from scratch.

You may have wished to cry in these situations if any one of the above statements is true for you.

All the above problems are common that happens in most of the development team. 

There are a lot of small factors responsible for damaging the developer’s project. You won’t see the effect immediately and maybe not for a year or even more. Most of the time we do not pay attention to these small factors, and we consider that it won’t affect our project badly but these small factors can harm your project in the long-term. 

In development when you start working on a project everything seems to be working fine but as time goes on, the complexity of your project gets increases and you start ignoring some small factors in your application. Later these small factors create a big issue and your own project becomes a nightmare and a horror story for you. 

These issues can be avoided if you learn some fundamental laws of software and if you understand the mindset of great developers. We are going to discuss this topic in detail it will help you in taking the right decisions in your development journey. You will be able to keep your software manageable and as simple as possible. 

1. Understand the Purpose of Your Software

Before you start working on a project understand the main goal or the purpose of your software. What’s the purpose of your software??….to help people. If you look around yourself you will find many applications you are using in your day-to-day life and all these applications have a single purpose….to help people.

The purpose of the software is not to show off how intelligent you are.

-Max Kanat-Alexander, Code Simplicity

Always remember the above-written quote. Great developers never consider the purpose of software showing off how clever they are in writing the code for a project. You will be building a complex system or a bad application if you don’t understand the purpose of the software. A bad application doesn’t help people that much. 

When you start working on a project ask a single question to yourself “How can we help?” and then the answer will help you to understand the main goal of your application. Also, in this way, you will be able to prioritize feature requests in your application. 

2. Understand The Goals of Software Design

Keep in mind only two things to understand the aim of your software design. Your design should be as simple as possible and it should be helpful for other users. 

Many times in software development when it’s hard to create or modify something, developers shift their focus on making things “just work” and they spend less time focusing on helping users. Every programmer is a designer and being a developer you need to understand the goal of software design. 

The goal of software design is to make the developer’s job as easy as possible. This way, developers will be able to focus on other important things that matter in an application. Understanding the aim of your software design will help you to create an application that helps users and it will be continued for a long time. 

3. Understanding Your System and Your Work

Before you start working on a project make sure that you fully understand your system, its behavior, functionality, features, and tools you’re working with. If you don’t understand your system and it’s working properly then you will be making your job more difficult and you will be heading towards building a complex system.

Also, a misunderstanding leads to further misunderstanding and that becomes a vicious cycle in an application. These misunderstanding only increases complexity in your system and this complexity can harm your project very badly in the future. If a developer understands their system properly, they will also understand what they need to do in their application. 

Good developers know what they need to do in their application whereas bad developers don’t know what they’re doing in an application just because they don’t understand the system and its work properly. 

4. Follow Simplicity

Being a developer how would you feel if you need to work on a complex code where you don’t understand what a specific bunch of code is doing in the application. How would you continue with it and perform your own task if you don’t understand the code which is already implemented in the codebase? Surely it’s frustrating for any developer and also it’s difficult for them to work on these kinds of systems.

Being a developer your aim should be to reduce the complexity of the system not to create it, not to increase it. If you think that writing complex code makes you a smart and intelligent developer then you’re totally wrong. It’s a wrong mindset and you should never do this mistake in software development. A good developer always keeps the code as simple as possible so that other developers can understand it and work on it.

Remember that in software development complexity has nothing to do with intelligence, simplicity does. The simplicity of your code shows how good a developer you’re, not complexity. 

A good developer creates things that are easy to understand and easy to change. Remember that developers who are new to your code, they have to learn everything about it. So before you write some complex code just ask one question to yourself “Do I want other developers to understand this code, be happy and continue to work with it, or do I want them to be confused and frustrated?”.

Now you might be asking one question to yourself…“How simple do you have to be?”

The answer is…stupid, dumb simple.

5. Controlling The Complexity

In software development, most of the projects get failed due to the complexity of the system. You start with a simple project but as time goes on you keep adding features to it and after a couple of months when you look back at your own code you realize that you have written a lot of unnecessary code and you have built a much more complex system. You realize that you have expanded a few things in your software for no reason. 

Your problem doesn’t end here. Due to the complexity, you become the victim of a lot of bugs in your system. You start fixing these bugs without realizing that it’s badly affecting the other parts of your application. Fixing one bug is introducing a new bug and now you realize that it’s difficult to make even a small change in your system. 

In the end when you realize it’s time-consuming and things are now out of control. You make a final decision to fix everything: Rewrite the code from scratch. 

The above story is one of the most common horror stories in programming. Most of the developers face it and become victims of it. So the question is…how to avoid this problem?

First, you need to know the exact purpose of your software. Second, you need to be as simple as possible in every single piece of code you write. Third, when a new feature is requested, evaluate them based on your application purpose and question them. 

Also, being a developer your behavior should be resistant to change. Do not make any change or add some features until or unless it’s not much needed. You will prevent yourself from writing unnecessary code in your application. 

6. Maintenance

Most of the time developers do not pay attention to the maintenance of the code. They focus on quick coding and fast shipping of the product and ignore the importance of code maintenance. No matter how small or large applications you build, you will always have to implement a few changes in your application. 

Every feature you have built in your application and every change you have made in your application requires maintenance. So keep in mind that being a developer your job is not just implementing the features or changes in your application. You also need to pay attention to the future maintenance of code or changes in your application. 

Simplicity and complexity, both of the factors are mainly responsible for code maintenance. The more simple code you write for any piece of software the easier it would be to maintain it. A complex system requires more effort for maintenance. 

It is more important to reduce the effort of maintenance than it is to reduce the effort of implementation.

— Max Kanat-Alexander, Code Simplicity

7. Be Consistent

The simplicity of your system depends a lot on consistency. Inconsistent code is always hard to understand and developers need to put more effort into learning and understanding it. 

If you have followed a way to do something in one place then follow a similar way in every place. For example: In your application, if you name a variable ‘variableOne’ then all of your variables should be named that way (variableTwo, variableThree etc. not variable_three). 

8. Prioritizing

In your programming journey, you will have many options for a certain thing or a specific problem. There you will have to make a decision about choosing the best option. Now the question is… how to make a decision about your software? How to prioritize the things and what are some factors you need to consider making a better decision. 

In the book Code Simplicity, it is explained very well with some equation…

• The desirability of a change (D): Measurement of change you want in your system to happen (How much?)
• The value of a change (V): Measurement of value the change offers (How much?). How much does it help the users?
• Required efforts to perform the change (E): Measurement of work you need to do to fulfill this change (How much?)

Below is the equation to prioritize the thing and make the decision. 

D=V/E

The desirability of any change is directly proportional to the value of the change and inversely proportional to the effort involved in making the change. 

— Code Simplicity

The above line will help you to make a better decision. Choose the options that require less effort but bring a lot of value. Ignore the options that require more effort but bring a little value. 

9. Solving Problems

To solve the problem you need to first understand the problem. You should know what exactly is being asked and make sure that you clear all the confusion. 

You can follow the Feynman technique to understand a hard problem. In this technique, you need to explain your problem to someone else in simple terms.

If you can’t explain something in simple terms, you don’t understand it.

 — Richard Feynman 

Once you understand the problem, make a plan, and take the action. 

Looking at the big whole problem can scare you, so it’s good to divide the problem into various small tasks. Once you divide the task, solve each sub-problem one by one, and then merge it to get the complete solution.

10.  Do Not Chase Too Much Perfection

One of the common mistakes most developers make is that they want to make everything too perfect in an application. Each and every feature they want to build with perfection and because of this, they tend to plan everything in detail from the beginning. Most of the time their focus gets shifted to making things perfect only instead of solving the problem and helping people with their software. 

“Perfect is the enemy of good.”

 — Voltaire

When developers start working on a project they start thinking about each and every small detail or feature they want to build in their system. Every time they make some assumptions, prediction, and they ask a single question to themselves “What if“. They think about their software from a future perspective, and they predict everything according to that. 

For any developer, the imagination of the project from a future perspective becomes the main reason to build everything too perfect. Developers think that their project has to be perfect as they imagined it. Developers do not pay attention to certain things but seeking too much perfection can be harmful to them. Being a developer, if you’re chasing too much perfection in your project then below are the things that can happen later with you…

• You will be writing unnecessary code, thinking from a future perspective.
• Complexity will be increased due to the unnecessary code.
• You will be too generic.
• You will be missing deadlines.
• The complexity of your project will introduce many bugs in your software.

None of the developers wants to face all the above things. So being a developer what you should do in this case…

Start small, improve it, then extend.

Let’s consider the example of implementing a calculator in a system…

1. Make a plan to build a system that does only addition and nothing else.
2. Work on your plan and implement it.
3. Make improvements in your existing system so that you can add other operations.
4. Now make a plan for subtraction and repeat steps 2 and 3.
5. Make a plan for multiplication and repeat steps 2 and 3.
6. Make a plan for division and repeat steps 2 and 3.

Do not chase too much perfection in your software. Good enough is fine. 

11. Predictions

Thinking from the future perspective we write a lot of unnecessary code and we become too generic in our application which is not good. In software development, you can’t predict the future, so no matter how generic your solution is, you won’t be able to fulfill the actual future requirements. 

Most of the time those requirements won’t be needed in the future and you will end up with writing unnecessary code and increasing the complexity of your system. A more complex system becomes a burden on a developer and also it can destroy your application as well.

So it’s good not to predict the future and implement something which isn’t needed yet. Be only as generic as you know you need to be right now.

12. Don’t Reinvent The Wheel.

Do not implement something, if it already exists.  

A lot of developers spend their time building or creating something which already exists on the portal. This is one of the common mistakes and it just consumes the developer’s valuable time. Instead of reinventing the wheel, they can spend their time on something else which is more important. 

Now the question is…when it’s okay to reinvent the wheel? Below is the answer…

• Implement something which doesn’t exist yet.
• If all the existing “wheels” are built on bad technologies and it’s not capable to fulfill your needs.
• Lack of maintenance in existing “wheels”

13. Resistance

Say no to changing requests until or unless it’s not important. You will be making mistake if you will say ‘yes’ to each and every request and if you will start working on each one of them.

You will be adding more code to your application and that will increase the complexity of your system. So it’s good not to make unnecessary changes in your software.

Now the question is….which changing request we need to implement in our software?

Go back, remember your software purpose, and the simple equation in the prioritizing section.

14. Automate the Repetitive Tasks

One of the most frustrating things in software development is working on some repetitive tasks. The repetitive task just consumes your additional time and it’s a foolish thing to work on it again and again. When you realize that you are doing something, again and again, set them up, automate it and forget about them. If you can automate something and if it’s saving your valuable time then automate it.

15. Code Measurement

Do not measure the quality of software based on the number of lines of code. Writing more number of lines of code doesn’t make you a great developer. If you think that a thousand lines of code are always a sign of a big software or application then it’s not true in every case. In most cases, something goes wrong with the software design. 

If you pay attention carefully then you can solve a lot of problems in a little bunch of code. Most of the simple solutions in an application don’t require a lot of code. Less code makes your application simpler but you also need to remember that you do not write very fewer lines of code.

If you focus on writing very fewer lines of code then you may fall into the trap of writing clever code that is hard to understand for other developers. So you need to find a balance and you need to write only that much amount of code that is easy to understand and easy to read.

16. Productivity

A lot of developers measure their productivity with the number of lines of code they write in an application. Remember that in software development you can increase productivity if you throw unnecessary code from your codebase. 

Your goal shouldn’t be writing more code and increasing complexity. You should think about removing unnecessary code and making things as simple as possible. This golden rule is not just going to increase your productivity, but also it will increase the productivity of other developers.

17. Test Each Part of The Code

In software development always add logging in an early stage of implementation. You will be saving a lot of time and you will find the problems easily in your application. 

Now consider a scenario that you have written a simple if-else block in your application. You give the input to the software and that enters inside the if block. You test it and you commit the code to source control. From your end it’s done but what about the else block? When your software will be shipped to the production, it will generate an error. 

To avoid such kind of issue test your code properly. Execute all new lines at least once and test each and every part instead of testing the whole application in the end. Keep testing the parts of the application when you’re implementing it. You might be thinking that it’s time-consuming to test each part but if you really want to prevent yourself from a big issue and if you want to save your valuable time then surely you should test each part of the application during the implementation.   

When you see bugs in your application, reproduce it. Do not guess the source of the bug and fix it based on your assumption. Apply fixes when you see it with your own eyes. Be reliable and make sure that your code is properly tested before you commit that to the source control. 

18. Do Not Underestimate

Everything takes longer than you think. 

This is one of the most important and golden rules you should remember in software development. 

Most of the developers make one common mistake in software development. They underestimate the time and efforts needed to develop a small amount of code or implement a feature. You will be missing the deadlines if you underestimate both of the things. 

For correct estimation, you can break the big task into smaller tasks. Smaller tasks are easy to estimate and even if you guess it wrong then there will be only a slight difference between your own estimation and the correct estimation. This won’t affect your software badly. 

19. Documentation and Commenting

When most of the developers comment on a piece of code they think that they need to mention “what code is doing”. This is wrong. If you need to mention this then surely your code is not readable and you need to make it easier and simpler. 

When you’re unable to make code simpler then write the comment and explain the complexity of it. The real purpose of the comment is to mention “Why” you did something not “What” the code is doing. Commenting on the code help other programmers to continue with the software and work on it. If you don’t do this then developers can remove the important parts from your code. 

You also need to pay attention to the documentation. Your software’s architecture, module and its components everything should be mentioned in the documentation. Documentations are helpful to see the high level of a picture of your software and it would be easier for new developers to work on it if they understand the complete architecture of the software. They can make mistakes if they won’t have any clue about the different parts or the complete architecture of the application. 

20. Don’t Be a Superman

A lot of times it happens that we overestimate our potential to complete some task. It’s good to be confident about your potential but it’s not good to become overconfident. Many times it’s better to quit rather than being a superman and showing that you can do something. Instead of making things perfect and fulfilling your task, you will make blunder mistakes and you will screw up everything. 

Suppose you estimate that a task can be completed in two hours. You started working on it and it’s been four hours but you’re still only a quarter of the way done. Here you need to quit the task instead of thinking that “I shouldn’t give up, I have already spent four hours on it”

You are determined to complete the task but sometimes you really need to think practically and ask questions to yourself “is it better to quit the task with short damage or it’s better to continue with it making a blunder mistake in the end?”

Don’t be obsessive. Know when to quit and don’t hesitate to ask for help.

Web Developer, Technical Content Engineer

This set of Total Quality Management Multiple Choice Questions & Answers (MCQs) focuses on “Agile Manufacturing”.

1. Which of the following is not associated with Agile Manufacturing?
a) Operational Flexibility
b) Bottom-up innovation
c) Operator augmentation
d) Slow approach
View Answer

Answer: d
Explanation: Agile manufacturing focuses on operational flexibility, bottom-up innovation, and operator augmentation. It also emphasizes on rapid iteration.

2. Agile Manufacturing focuses on faster response to customer demands.
a) True
b) False
View Answer

Answer: a
Explanation: Agile Manufacturing focuses on faster response to customer demands. It does so while empowering workers to innovate.

3. Which of the following is not an example of changing customer expectations which essentially leads us to focus on agile manufacturing?
a) Product customization
b) Slow delivery
c) Fast delivery
d) Cheaper production
View Answer

Answer: b
Explanation: We are having changes not only in technology but also in customer expectations. Customers expect product customization, faster delivery, and cheaper production.

4. Which of the following is not a reason for organizations switching to agile manufacturing?
a) Constant technological development
b) Increasing complex supply chain
c) Higher customer standards
d) Increased manpower
View Answer

Answer: d
Explanation: Constant technological development, increasing complex supply chain, and higher customer standards are some of the reasons for organizations to switch to agile manufacturing. There are new technologies appearing every day and manufacturing experiences more disruptions.

5. Which of the following is not a common idea between lean manufacturing and agile manufacturing?
a) Productivity
b) Empowering people
c) Response to customer demands
d) Reduction in waste
View Answer

Answer: d
Explanation: Both lean manufacturing and agile manufacturing focuses on the ideas of productivity, empowering people, and response to customer demands. They both focus on increasing quality. But, lean manufacturing alone focuses on reduction in waste. It is not a central idea in agile manufacturing. Agile manufacturing focuses on flexibility and bottom-up innovation.

6. ______ refers to replacing workers with machines and ______ refers to enhancing workers’ capabilities through technology.
a) Innovation, augmentation
b) Automation, augmentation
c) Augmentation, automation
d) Innovation, automation
View Answer

Answer: b
Explanation: Automation refers to replacing workers with machines and augmentation refers to enhancing workers’ capabilities through technology. Augmentation is one of the principles of agile manufacturing.

7. Agile manufacturing focuses on a bottom-up approach.
a) True
b) False
View Answer

Answer: a
Explanation: Agile manufacturing focuses on a bottom-up approach. It abandons the traditional hierarchical top-down approach and inherits the flexible bottom-up approach.

8. Which of the following is not an advantage of the bottom-up approach of agile manufacturing?
a) Shop floor workers have a voice
b) Low engagement
c) High value products and processes
d) Seamless flow of ideas
View Answer

Answer: b
Explanation: By implementation of the bottom-up approach of agile manufacturing, the shop floor workers in an organization get a voice. There is a seamless flow of ideas across all the layers of the organization. It also leads to high value products and processes.

9. Which of the following is not a reason for organizations to adopt flexible systems under agile manufacturing?
a) Increasing fluctuations in demand
b) Economic factors
c) Political factors
d) Waterfall model
View Answer

Answer: d
Explanation: Increasing fluctuations in demand, labor rates, input prices along with economic factors, environmental factors, political factors, social factors and political factors are some of the reasons for organizations to adopt flexible systems under agile manufacturing. Agile concept was initially brought in to move away from the Waterfall Model.

10. Which of the following is not related to an agile organization?
a) Silo mentality
b) Real-time communication and work management tools
c) Interactive digital work instructions
d) Concept of hackathons
View Answer

Answer: a
Explanation: Agile organizations follow bottom-up approach and there is seamless exchange of ideas and directives. It abandons the silo mentality often associated with traditional hierarchical approach.

11. Which of the following is not found in an agile organization?
a) Accountability
b) Transparency
c) Collaborations
d) Leaders ruling over employees
View Answer

Answer: d
Explanation: Accountability, transparency and collaborations are crucial within teams in an agile organization. Leaders do not rule over employees but rather focus on augmentation.

Sanfoundry Global Education & Learning Series – Total Quality Management.

To practice all areas of Total Quality Management, here is complete set of 1000+ Multiple Choice Questions and Answers.

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Can you imagine a situation that one fine morning you just wake up and find all your Social Media Accounts hacked?? (Quite Awful, Right…??). 

Imagine all those IT giants such as Facebook, Amazon, etc. that are majorly relying upon user data identifies unauthorized access to their data server or may lose all their data (Yes, nothing can be more frightened for them than this situation).

Most probably, that would be enough to make you understand the importance of Cyber Security Engineer in today’s Digital World. Indeed, from an individual level to the MNC’s perspectives, Cyber Security has become an essential aspect for everyone to protect themselves from any kind of cyber-attack such as security breach, data loss, etc. And with the same concern, almost every company (whether it be a startup or a big tech giant) is offering numerous career opportunities for Cyber Security Professionals. Thus, if you’re looking forward to making a career as a Cyber Security Engineer, it will be a great career move for you!!  

As per the reports, the demand for Cyber Security Engineers seems to be rising exponentially in the upcoming times and there will be around 3 million new job opportunities for Cyber Security Professionals by the year 2021. Now, let’s take a look at the question – Who is a Cyber Security Engineer? In general, a Cyber Security Engineer is an IT professional who is responsible for maintaining the security aspects of computer & network systems and perform various tasks such as designing and implementation of secured network solutions, monitoring, troubleshooting, and many more to avoid any kind of cyber-attacks or threats. Furthermore, several major roles and responsibilities of a Cyber Security Engineer in an organization are mentioned below that can help you to get a more clear picture of the particular job profile:  

• Planning, designing & implementation of data & network security measures
• Responsible for upgrading the security measures accordingly
• Conducts penetration testing regularly to find any vulnerabilities
• Troubleshoots security and network issues in the organization
• Responsible for various daily administrative tasks, etc.

So, as of now, you must have known about the Cyber Security Engineer job profile in detail, now let’s move further and discuss the complete career path that you need to follow to become a worthwhile Cyber Security Engineer:

1. Have a Relevant Academic Background

Indeed, having a relevant academic background should be the first and foremost step taken by you to start your journey of becoming a Cyber Security Engineer. You can opt for completing your graduation in the concerned field such as Computer Science / Information Technology, etc with emphasizing more on the Cyber Security domain. It will help you to get familiar with the fundamentals of Cyber Security such as Computer Networks, Cryptography, and many more. Moreover, having a relevant academic background with a decent knowledge of fundamental cybersecurity skills can directly land you up several ravishing entry-level career opportunities in the Cyber Security field such as Security Analyst, Systems Admin, etc that’ll pave the way for you to become a Cyber Security Engineer. Furthermore, you’re recommended to go for some Master’s Degree program as well in the Cyber Security stream for some advanced exposure.  

2. Be Proficient with Prerequisites Technical Skills

Now, you’re required to take a step forward and become proficient with several crucial technical skills essential for becoming a Cyber Security Engineer. You can enhance these technical skills from various online or offline resources such as tutorials, online courses, YouTube videos, etc. Let’s take a look at these prerequisites technical skills:

Sound knowledge of Required Languages & Tools: Firstly, you need to become proficient with several renowned programming or scripting languages such as C/C++, JAVA, Python, Node, Ruby, etc. Moreover, you’re also recommended to become familiar with several tools such as Power Shell, OpenSSH, and various others. A thorough understanding of these languages and tools will help you further for various crucial tasks such as designing security solutions, task automation, etc. in the Cyber Security domain.

Familiarity with Various Operating Systems: Furthermore, you need to have a fundamental knowledge of Operating Systems such as Linux, UNIX, Windows, etc. You need to have an understanding of the architecture and underlying mechanism of these Operating Systems along with the respective commands & tools.  

Extensive Understanding of Cyber Security Concepts: This is the core part of becoming a Cyber Security Engineer and you need to allot a dedicated time as well as hard work for this particular aspect. However, you’ll get your basics of Cyber Security clear in the particular degree program, etc. but here you’ll be required to dive deeper into the ocean of Cyber Security and cover various in-depth and crucial topics. Some of these topics are provided below:

• Firewalls | Network Architecture
• TCP/IP | OSI Model
• Penetration Testing
• Vulnerability Assessment
• Intrusion Detection, and many more.

Moreover, you’re recommended to cover several additional topics also such as Computer Forensics, SIEM Management, etc for some in-depth knowledge. Meanwhile, you can join several advanced training sessions, etc. to make your learning journey more convenient and effective.  

3. Gain Some Hands-On Experience

Once you’ll get done with all these required skills, now it’s time to do the practical implementation and gain some hands-on experience in this particular field. You can opt for several internships or training programs to get the opportunities of working on live projects real-time environment. Furthermore, you can apply for some entry-level jobs as well in the Cyber Security domain such as Cyber Security Analyst, Network Analyst, etc. to gain the utmost exposure. Meanwhile, this professional experience will not only allow you to understand the core functioning of the Cyber Security field such as the design & implementation of secure network systems, monitoring, and troubleshooting, risk management, etc. but is also crucial for building a successful career as a Cyber Security Engineer as almost every company requires a professional experience of around 2-3 years while hiring for the Cyber Security Engineers.

4. Possess the Relevant Certifications

Here comes one of the most prominent parts of this journey – Certifications!! Now, there is a question that often arises in the minds of individuals that if a person is having an appropriate skill set along with the required experience then why would he need to go for such certifications? However, there may be multiple reasons for this – firstly, these certifications help you to analyze & validate your skills and knowledge in a particular field. Secondly, there are several prominent certifications (especially in the Cyber Security domain) that are preferred by the organizations as a prerequisite or eligibility criteria while hiring for the Cyber Security Professionals. Hence, you’re required to pass the exams and earn the certifications respectively to showcase your expertise. Meanwhile, several most-recommended certifications are mentioned below that you can take into consideration:  

• Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH)
• Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP)
• Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) Security
• Global Information Assurance Certification (GIAC) Certification, etc.

5. Apply For the Cyber Security Engineer Jobs

Okay, so after having sound knowledge of the Cyber Security domain, possessing all the required skills, having some hands-on experience with relevant certifications – now what you’re supposed to do? Right, now you need to go for your end-goal and apply for the Cyber Security Engineer job roles in various tech giants. You can start it by shortlisting the companies based on your preferences and then visit their career portals to get aware of the job openings and other useful insights such as eligibility criteria, experience, etc. You can also use various online platforms such as LinkedIn, CutShort, etc. to connect with the industry professionals and get referrals. There are numerous renowned companies that offer various ravishing career opportunities to Cyber Security Engineers such as, IBM, Cisco, Sophos, Palo Alto Networks, Intel, and many more.  

So, this is a complete career path that you need to follow to become a successful Cyber Security Engineer. Meanwhile, we’ve compiled a set of few soft skills as well that you’re strongly recommended to take into consideration in your journey of becoming a Cyber Security Engineer – Presentation and Communications skills, Problem-Solving, Project Management, Collaboration, and Time Management. Furthermore, below we’ve mentioned several most-recommended books also that can help you to get your concepts more clear during the preparation for certifications exams:  

• Cybersecurity for Beginners by Raef Meeuwisse
• The Ethics of Cyber Security by Michele Loi
• Penetration Testing: A Hands-on Introduction to Hacking
• All-In-One CEH Certified Ethical Hacker

Now what else you need?? Moreover, if we talk about the average salary of a Cyber Security Engineer in India, it is around 7-9 LPA, and considering the growth rate of the Cyber Security domain, the demands for Cyber Security Professionals seems to be rising exponentially. Now, what are you waiting for? Follow the above-mentioned approaches and make a rewarding career for yourself as a Cyber Security Engineer!!

Indeed, when an individual decides to build a career in the Software Development field, there is one thing that always comes in his mind – How the career will progress & What will be future opportunities? Although, there are various worthwhile career opportunities after spending an adequate amount in the tech domain. And among all those options, one of the most considerable and impactful profile is Software Architect!  As per the reports, Software Architects is one of the most demanding jobs in recent years, and considering the expansion of the IT industry (particularly the Development domain), the future of Software Architects seems bright!!

Before moving further, let’s take a look at the question – Who is a Software Architect? A Software Architect is an IT professional who has expertise in Software Development, and he collaborates with various teams for the overall effective execution of the processes whether it be designing or development or implementation of software solutions. In general, a Software Architect makes crucial high-level software design choices and work on various aspects such as determine required technologies for the development team, carry out technical standards, etc. to build worthwhile software systems or solutions as per the needs of the client. A Software Architect can be responsible for various roles & responsibilities in an organization such as:

• Communicates with clients to identify software requirements and other needs.
• Comes up with optimal technical standards, tools, processes, etc. for the project.
• Leads the team of developers and distributes the development tasks accordingly.
• Collaborates with other teams, end-users, etc. to deliver high-quality software solutions.
• Works on Code Reviewing, Documentation, Troubleshooting, and other related areas, etc.

As of now, you have already become aware of the Software Architect job profile. Now let’s get back to the main concern – How to Become a Software Architect? And with the same concern, let’s go through the complete roadmap that you need to follow to build a successful & worthwhile career in Software Architect domain:

1. Start with the Academics

If you’re considering becoming a Software Architect, the first and foremost thing you need to do – get enrolled yourself for the relevant study program. You can look forward to possessing a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science / Information Technology or other related domain as it will not only make your fundamentals stronger but will also make you eligible for many ravishing career opportunities in various IT giants. Moreover, along with the degree or educational background, you can opt for several specific training programs, boot camps, etc. as well to get more proficiency & exposure in the Software Architect domain.

2. Get Proficient with Programming Languages

To start your career as a Software Architect, you’re always required to have a sound knowledge of programming languages & frameworks. As a Software Architect, you’re not solely responsible to do coding the entire day but you’re required to lead the team of developers, collaborate with other teams, review code, etc. hence you must have a thorough understanding of programming concepts and paradigms. Meanwhile, you can start to learn programming with various demanding programming languages such as C++, Python, Ruby, Go, etc. Also, you can opt to build several minor projects and can participate in various coding challenges to boost your programming skills.

3. Enter the IT world as a Software Developer

As mentioned above, Software Architects is not an entry-level career domain and can be considered as one of the succeeding positions of a Software Developer, hence you’re strongly recommended to gain an adequate amount of hands-on experience on a developer’s profile. Meanwhile, apart from the coding skills, you need to understand & work upon several other crucial aspects as a developer to become a Software Architect such as teamwork & task allotment, SDLC phases of the project, requirement analysis from clients, etc. It will help you to understand the entire functioning of the development field from designing to deployment that will further make it easier for you to get into the Software Architect domain.

4. Gain Sound Knowledge of System Design, DevOps, etc.

Once you’ll get entered into the Software Development field and become proficient with programming languages & frameworks, now it’s time for you to work on your goal (i.e., to become a Software Architect) and accordingly learn & upgrade your skills to achieve the target. Needless to say, a Software Architect is responsible for many tasks hence, you’re required to get familiar with several crucial domains such as System Design, Development Operations or DevOps, etc. You need to have a deep understanding of Design Patterns & Architecture, Fundamentals of Data Modeling, Unified Modeling Language (UML), and other related concepts to start your career as a Software Architect. 

5. Get Relevant Certifications

Furthermore, let’s discuss several renowned certifications for aspiring Software Architects. These certifications not only validates your skills & learnings but also offer you to gain some practical exposure. Apart from this, possessing these certifications can help you to get various career opportunities in IT giants. Moreover, there are numerous prestigious certifications that you can consider to obtain as per your niche whether it be Solution, Enterprise, and Domain Architecture. Some of these certifications are – ISAQB Software Architecture – Foundation LeveL, CITA-P: Certified IT Architect, ITIL Master (Axelos), AZURE Architect certification, and many more.

6. Work On Required Soft Skills

How can we forget that?? Indeed, having appropriate & relevant soft skills are as crucial as having technical skills to become a successful Software Architect. Firstly, you’re required to have good communication skills as you have to collaborate with clients, developers, other teams for the smooth functioning of the processes. Moreover, you need to have good problem-solving skills to come with innovative & optimal solutions for the problems. Apart from these, you’re required to work on several other crucial soft-skills such as Time Management, Leadership, Team Player, etc. for being a proficient Software Architect.

So, these are several major approaches that you need to follow to become a Software Architect. Indeed, the career path of becoming a Software Architect is not so easy and it may take you a few years of experience to get into the particular field, but it is needless to say that every step of this journey has its worth. Meanwhile, there are several recommended books mentioned below that can help you to become a Software Architects:  

• Fundamentals of Software Architecture
• Software Architecture in Practice
• Domain-Driven Design: Tackling Complexity in the Heart of Software
• Patterns of Enterprise Application Architecture

Undoubtedly, the Software Architects job profile has a lot more to offer you. Now, what are you waiting for? Do follow the above-mentioned approaches and start to learn the required skills to become a successful Software Architect!!

Have you ever thought of building a single application to access & control all your home applications or a device that can help you to monitor & early detection of any unusual change in your body, etc…?? If yes, then the Internet of Things (IoT) is the right domain for you!! Statistically, there will be more than 25 billion IoT devices by the year 2021 which signifies that undoubtedly, IoT is the next big thing in the upcoming years. However, like other tech domains, the first thing you need to do is get proficient with a relevant programming language to learn IoT Development.

When we talk about the Internet of Things (IoT), it is concerned with the network of physical devices that are embedded with several technologies in order to connect, communicate and share the data with each other over the network. The major components of the Internet of Things (IoT) are connectivity, integration, cloud computing, sensing, & various others and the technology has its applications in multiple areas whether it be Smart IoT devices for Homes, Health Care, Automation, Retail, etc. Now, when it comes to picking out a Programming Language for IoT Development, there are several prominent factors that must be considered such as compatibility with platform & tools, efficiency, cost of development, etc.

Though as there are numerous programming languages available, it becomes quite difficult to find out the relevant and worthwhile one for the IoT Development. No worries, here in this article, we’ll let you know about several most-recommended programming languages that you can opt to learn IoT Development in 2020:

1. JAVA

When it comes to IoT Development, JAVA stands out among the most popular programming languages. One of the prominent features that make JAVA favorable for the Internet of Things (IoT) Development is Write Once, Run Anywhere concept which implies that the compiled JAVA code can run on any platform that supports the language without compiling it again. In general, the JAVA codes are compiled to byte code that can run on any JAVA Virtual Machine conveniently. Moreover, the object-oriented language allows you to build the applications compatible for both – Edge nodes as well as Cloud. Furthermore, the languages come up with various other renowned features such as an extensive built-in library, highly interoperable, etc. beneficial for the IoT Development.

2. Python

Python is another most-recommended programming language compatible for the IoT Development. It is an interpreted language that supports the programming standards of object-oriented programming as well as functional & structured programming. The high-level programming language has an easier syntax and better code readability that makes it one of the most preferred languages for IoT by the developers. Also, the language can work on various platforms such as Windows, Linux, etc. and can be integrated with other languages such as C++, Java, etc. conveniently. Moreover, the language has rich library support, large community support, and various other features, and also it is much suitable for data-intensive applications.

3. C

How can we forget this much-acclaimed programming language!! C can be considered as one of the most widely used programming languages in the Internet of Things (IoT) world. The middle-Level programming language allows you to understand the underlying architecture of programming that provides the required flexibility to the IoT Developers. Moreover, the language has several other prominent features also such as portability, rich library, and many more. Furthermore, the language is pretty much compatible with the micro-controllers required for the IoT devices. However, it requires more effort and time as well to learn C Language effectively due to its not-so-easy syntax and layered architecture.

4. LUA

However, LUA is not one of the usual names in the computer programming word but when it comes to IoT Development, it has already made its strong presence among the developers. LUA is a general-purpose, high-level programming language that is specifically designed for embedded purposes. The extensible procedural language is aimed to support data description facilities and it is required to be embedded in a host client for successful functioning. Moreover, LUA comes up with its most preferred framework Node.lua built on a lightweight LUA interpreter that helps the developers to create IoT- based applications and various other enriching features such as better efficiency, portability, etc.

5. Golang

Golang, sometimes referred to as Go, is also one of those best languages that can be taken into consideration for IoT Development. In general, Golang is an open-source statically typed programming language, developed by Robert Griesemer, Rob Pike, and Ken Thompson at Google. The language offers several prominent features such as inbuilt concurrency (goroutines & channels) and the ability for the maximum usage of the hardware that makes it more compatible and relevant for the IoT development. Furthermore, the language provides several other crucial features also such as the rich standard library, dynamic-typing capability, etc. that can also be considered by the developers.

6. PHPoC

If you’re familiar with PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor) Language then to relate with the PHPoC (PHP on Chip) is not a big deal for you!! Meanwhile, PHPoC (PHP on Chip) is a programming language (based on PHP Language) and an IoT hardware platform. Even the syntax of PHPoC is almost similar to the PHP language. However, it can be considered that PHPoC is not only a web development language but also a general-purpose programming language compatible and suitable for IoT. Moreover, apart from the core PHP functions, PHPoC also includes several additional functions like SPI, UART, RTC, and various others beneficial for the IoT Development.

7. Swift

Last but not least – Swift!! If we talk about the language introduction – Swift is a general-purpose, multi-paradigm programming language that is specifically designed to create applications for iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS. The language comes up with several prominent features such as powerful error handling, functional programming patterns, fast & secure, and many more. However, as mentioned above that Swift is particularly concerned with the development of applications for Apple’s devices so if you’re looking forward to doing IoT development for these particular platforms such as iOS, macOS, etc. then you’re strongly recommended to opt for Swift otherwise you can go with other languages as well.

So these are several programming languages that you can take into consideration to learn IoT Development. Meanwhile, you can opt for a language (from the above-mentioned list or other than that) based on your own preferences, for example – if you’re looking for a language for IoT development with the easier syntax you can go with Python or if want to learn IoT for iOs & macOS devices you can opt for Swift, and so on. However, whichever language you’d choose, you’re required to do hard work with all the dedication and consistency to accomplish your goals!!