An IoT developer

 Short depiction of an IT professional in your country (qualities, skills, education, attitudes etc. 

The IoT developer's main activity is to analyse the needs of client companies and to anticipate those of end users. They support the sales teams in studying the technical feasibility of a project. It is he who ensures the study and development of IoT solutions. He or she defines a minimum viable product (MVP) strategy, integrates the technical constraints and performance expectations of the communications protocols into the specifications (energy consumption, autonomy, interoperability, information flows to be transmitted, costs, set of sensors to be integrated, etc.).

They keep a constant watch on technological developments in order to anticipate them. The IoT developer's role is also to develop software interfaces for the microcontroller. He/she creates prototypes/models "Proof of concept" (POC), he/she creates API programming interfaces and manages their deployment. He defines test scenarios and implements them. It analyses the performance obtained, proposes and implements improvements. He/she sets up evolutionary maintenance measures and participates in the structuring of databases.

Technical skills required

Technical skills are expected of the IoT developer. He/she must master hardware architectures (interfaces, sensors, etc.), have a good knowledge of embedded electronics, understand its constraints (autonomy, energy consumption, etc.), and be familiar with electronic board manufacturing processes (PCB / Routing). 

He/she must also manage telecommunication protocols and therefore know Low Energy / LPWAN network protocols and master the associated prototyping platforms (microcontroller, Raspberry PI, Arduino).

Concerning development and computer and embedded systems, he/she must master agile methods and object methodologies, master operating systems or real-time OS, master frameworks, know several programming languages (C, C++, Java, Python, Perl, Golang, Assembler) and have a good knowledge of security standards and techniques applied to connected objects. Finally, concerning data storage and processing, he/she must master Cloud Computing environments, master web applications (JavaScript, PHP, Node.JS, HTML, CSS), and have a good knowledge of fusion and mass data processing.

 

What is the career path for the IoT developer? How has it been changing during the last 20 years (since the millennium)?

Before becoming an IoT developer, they may have started their career as an embedded system developer or OS developer. Among the possible evolutions: project manager or IoT product manager.

To become an IoT developer, the most sought-after profiles are those from engineering schools or universities with a specialisation in industrial computing or embedded electronics. The required level is generally Bac+5. Three to five years' experience in iOS, embedded software development or innovative technologies is also desirable.

The number of vacancies for IoT developer positions increased by 28% between 2016 and 2018 in France. 

From 1995 to 2015, there has been a dramatic change in the developer ecosystem.

- The rise of open source options: In 1995, there were about 5 open source languages for the web including Perl. Now there are over 100 languages including Ruby, PhP and Javascript.

- Plethora of libraries and frameworks:The only libraries available in 1995 were those for Javascript. Today, there are over 100 libraries and frameworks for Php alone.

- Client-server application development to Web apps to Mobile apps: The overall changes are from PC (dekstop / laptop) client software to web applications and now to mobile applications. We have gone from native clients to browser based apps back to native mobile apps all over again.

- Phenomenal rise of consumer apps, thanks to mobile : Personal finance (Intuit), to 1+ Million consumer apps thanks to mobile. PC’s were largely (90%) used for “work” with few consumers having home PC’s. The home PC’s rose thanks to the web, but now everyone has a mobile phone. Which has led to a phenomenal increase in # of consumer apps, not just business or productivity apps.

- Increased availability of application level API’s: From providers such as Facebook, Twitter, and others on programmable web. 

- Ease of looking up coding examples, tutorials and sample code: Thanks to Stack Overflow and Github, there are many more samples, code snippets and examples that developers can use to be more productive quicker.

-. Increase in the number of indie developer (solo): With the rise of consumer mobile apps and mobile games, there has been a significant rise in # of solo developers who are able to make a living based on building applications for niche audiences.

- The change in market share of complied versus interpreted languages: 20 years ago, most programs and applications were compiled (C, C++) and the share of interpreted languages was small. Now, with Javascript Ruby and Php taking the forefront, most applications are interpreted not compiled. The only exception is mobile apps – which are still compiled.

- The changes in app distribution – App Stores: Discovering, installing and using apps is a much more smoother and easier process now than before thanks to App stores.

- The availability of Cloud infrastructure for app development: The biggest change for developers over the last 10 years has been the rise of AWS and other cloud services, which allow developers to provision, build and deploy instances and machines much faster than 20 years ago.