It’s official. Being a dedicated Internet of Things (IoT) software application developer is now a formalized job title, an official workplace designation and role. It is, as they say, now ‘a thing’.
We’ve been here before, with mobile
Somewhere around the turn of the millennium there was a certain disquiet within the software application developer community. The rise of mobile had driven many programmers to question just exactly where they put their stake in the ground.
“I am a developer, therefore I’m a mobile developer,” some coders were heard to assert.
It was a recognition among the software engineering community that if they were gainfully employed in the business of software development, then (given the emphasis on so-called ‘mobile-first’ and ‘mobile-optimized’ technologies) essentially, they could probably call themselves mobile developers.
Therefore I am IoT..?
Are programmers now at the point where they are happy to label themselves as essentially IoT programmers due to the all-pervading nature of the IoT and its ubiquity, relevance and network connectivity to all other applications?
Answer: no, probably not quite yet, not for every developer, but there are a growing breed who will say yes.
Characteristics of IoT programming
So what characteristics can we find in IoT programming and what types of coding proficiency might mark out specific developers as highly IoT-centric?
In terms of real world workflow, we know that IoT applications need to be specifically engineered to continuously analyze the data streams being produced by smart devices — this means IoT developers are good at handling massive data sets, at scale and at speed.
We also know that the vast streams of data coming out of the IoT are just that i.e. they’re vast. This means that IoT application programmers will (hopefully) exhibit some proficiency in working with visualization dashboards and presentation layer technologies. These graphical tools are essential if we are to be able to understand and interpret what is happening on the devices themselves.
IoT ecosystem & lifecycle
Along with an inherent appreciation for networking and software application lifecycle within Continuous Integration (CI) and Continuous Deployment (CD) scenarios, the IoT developer will also (typically) have a great appreciation for complete software environment ecosystem needs.
The IoT as an ecosystem of ‘living software’ demands intelligent networking, intelligent integration and intelligent event messaging so that A knows what B is doing and so on. Woe betide the IoT developer who thinks they can side step the wider ecosystem connectivity element in even the cleverest new application innovation.
IoT developer events
Internet of Business will this year host two events dedicated to exploring the possibilities and realms that exist within IoT software development.
IoT Build San Francisco is staged from 11th – 12th October 2017 and IoT Build London UK is staged at Olympia Kensington from 14th – 15th November 2017… with more information here.
Platforms, security, interoperability & scalability, legacy integration, applications & software development, data analytics, network architecture are discussed during the presentations, panels, workshops, breakout sessions, networking breaks & drinks and more.