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What are the jobs to be done in the day to day life of an IoT developer?
Hello there! Thank you for your question regarding the jobs to be done in the day to day life of an IoT developer. The most helpful sources I found on this topic were articles from Progress and Linkedin. The short answer is that the major activities in the life of a IoT developer are 1)Electrical engineering, 2)AUTOCAD, 3)Circuit design, 4)Machine learning, 5)Big Data, 6)Android operating system, 7)Java platform, 8)Rapid Application Development (RAD) and 9)Microcontroller programming. The key pain points for IoT developers are 1)Data structuring and technologies, 2)Lack of tools/skills and 3)System architecture. Below you will find a deep dive of my findings and how I arrived on this conclusion.
METHODOLOGY
As stated in an article from Internet of Business, an IoT developer is a generic term, requiring a vast skillset, ranging down from hardware design, troubleshooting and power management, data analytics, cloud computing etc. The article further states that a basic IoT team includes an electrical engineer, a mechanical engineer, an industrial designer, an embedded systems designer, one back-end developer, one front-end developer and a product manager. I have therefore created a list of the most important actions that fall under an IoT developer's domain. Though a typical developer may not have to face these activities daily, he would definitely have to work on these areas on a regular basis. The criteria for selecting these activities was twofold, either that activity was employed by a vast majority of the IoT community or it was witnessing a rapid growth in the same. For pain points, I have comprised a list of 3 major challenges faced by IoT developers.
TOP ACTIVITIES
1) Electrical Engineer
Electrical engineers are necessary to develop embedded devices for mobile applications, radio frequency (RF)/analog and microwave engineering for communication systems on IoT devices. Jobs for electrical engineers in the IoT sector has risen by 159% in the IoT sector
2) Industrial Designer
-AUTOCAD
AutoCAD is the premier design software for engineering applications seeing a strong growth as the complexity of IoT devices keeps increasing. This sector has witnesses a 216% increase in jobs.
- Circuit Design
Circuit designing is essential in developing IoT, and there is a 231% increases in demand for developers with experience in this field. Printed circuit boards and 3D designing are the fastest growing sectors in this segment.
3) Back End Developer
- Machine Learning
Machine learning algorithms are utilized to make predictions based on identifying data patterns from IoT devices, enabling smarter, more efficient devices. Machine learning jobs have witnessed a major increase (by 199%) due to IoT.
- Big Data
Big data is used in conjuncture with machine learning to collect relevant data while simultaneously filtering out the redundant information. Big data jobs in IoT have increased by 183%.
4) Front end Developer
- Operating System
A survey conducted by Progress states that for building and coordinating IoT apps, Android was seen as the top OS, being used by 29% of IoT developers.
- Platform
Though IoT developers use various platforms for developing IoT apps, Java has the maximum popularity for server-side data, with the support of 55% of total users.
-Rapid Application Development (RAD)
Rapid Application Development (RAD) has been gaining popularity among IoT developers, with 50% of developers using RAD tools at least occasionally, while only 25% of developers never use RAD tools.
-Microcontroller Programming
Microcontroller programming is also witnessing a massive growth in the IoT sector, with an increase in demand by 225% from last year.
PAIN POINTS
1) Data Structuring and Technologies
Respondents to a survey conducted by Progress stated managing large amounts of data and dealing with inflexible technologies are the key challenges faced by developers in the development phase.
2) Lack of Tools/Skills
According to Progress, about 50% of IoT developers do not have the technology, skills and/or resources to successfully complete their tasks.
3) System Architecture
Contrary to IOP, where the application logic is always centralized, IoT applications involve physical constraints (location, physical wires/pins, etc.) which have to be included in the application logic. As stated in an article from linkedin, developing a distributed system architecture for real world application is a major issue for IoT developers.
CONCLUSION
To wrap it up, I have concluded that the major activities in the life of a IoT developer are 1)Electrical engineering, 2)AUTOCAD, 3)Circuit design, 4)Machine learning, 5)Big Data, 6)Android operating system, 7)Java platform, 8)Rapid Application Development (RAD) and 9)Microcontroller programming. The major challenges face by IoT developers are 1)Data structuring and technologies, 2)Lack of tools/skills and 3)System architecture.
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