5 Crucial Non-Technical Skills Every Developer Needs To Work On

In this era of constant technological changes, staying on top of your game is important. As a software developer, you must continuously learn new technology and improve your skills. 

But there’s more to being a good developer than just technical knowledge—you also need to work on some non-technical skills too! In this post, I’ll be sharing 5 crucial non-technical skills every developer needs to work on.

1. Problem Solving

Problem-solving is one of the best ways to learn new things. It’s an iterative process: first, you have a problem. Then, you understand why it’s happening and how to fix it. Then, you find a solution that works better than your previous method—even though it may not be perfect.

Problem-solving is an important skill because every developer will eventually hit a wall where they need help figuring out what to do next with their work or code. When this happens, being able to solve problems quickly and effectively can make all the difference in keeping projects moving forward instead of going down in flames because someone ran into trouble while trying something new.

It can also be frustrating to have a problem you need help solving. It’s even worse if you’re working with someone else and they can’t figure out why something isn’t working right. 

In this situation, it’s important to remember that nobody is perfect—even experienced & well-respected developers make mistakes sometimes.

2. Time Management and Prioritization

Time management is crucial for every developer. It can be easy to get overwhelmed with the amount of work you have to do, but if you manage your time well, it will be much easier to prioritize tasks and get things done on time. 

When working on a project, ask yourself what needs to happen for it to be completed successfully. This can help you determine which tasks are most important at the moment so that they get done first and don’t become distractions later on down the line (or, worse yet, put off indefinitely). 

Asking yourself these questions will help ensure that all your projects are prioritized appropriately—and not just left hanging in limbo as something “you’ll get around to.”

3. Communication

Software developers are becoming a more integral part of the business world. However, many still think of programmers as being in their own “silo” with little interaction with the rest of the organization. 

In reality, developers work closely with other departments, such as marketing and sales, IT support, product management and finance. Therefore, they need to have good communication skills so they can effectively collaborate with these groups from day one on their projects.

It’s easy for technical skills to become the most important thing for developers in a company. Those things can easily be measured on a test or by looking at someone’s Github profile, but communication and soft skills are just as important, if not more so.

Effective communication means that you understand what information needs to be conveyed, who needs it, and how they will use it once they have received it. It also means that you know when to listen instead of talk because listening is just as important as talking in an effective conversation between two people (or more).

Here are some tips on improving your communication skills: 

• Listen actively and try to understand what the person is saying. Don’t just wait for a pause so you can jump in with your thoughts. 

• Use active listening techniques such as repeating back what the other person said, paraphrasing, or summarizing their point, so they know that you get it before moving on.

4. Leadership Skills

If you want to climb the ladder of success, leadership skills are essential. If you’re a developer who has some management responsibilities, leadership skills can help your team work better together. 

If you need to get into a management position, leadership skills will be useful for getting yourself promoted and earning higher pay. Leadership skills are also good for your personal life: they help build confidence, which is an attractive quality in any relationship.

A leader knows how to delegate tasks effectively; someone who doesn’t know how may give incomplete instructions that don’t get communicated well through the rest of their team or organization. 

A great leader knows when it’s time for someone else on their team (or even outside) to take over so they can move onto something else more important than micromanaging every little detail themselves.

Leadership skills are not just about being the boss, though. It’s also about being a good communicator, delegating tasks appropriately and knowing when it’s time to let go of control so your team can do their job without constant micromanagement.

5. Empathy

Understanding and empathizing with other people is an essential skill for developers. 

Whether you’re working on a team or alone, understanding the needs, wants, and emotions of others can make your job easier. 

For example:

• If you approach a coworker with empathy rather than judgment when they make a mistake, they will be more likely to listen to your suggestions in the future.

• If you treat users as humans instead of just data points to be analyzed, they may provide more helpful information during user testing sessions or interviews.

• When meeting new people at conferences, remember that even if their stance differs from yours, they could still have valid reasons for it; try not to be dismissive or rude unless necessary (and then apologize later).

Wrap Up

The truth is, these skills are more important than ever before and can help you land a job in an increasingly competitive market. Being able to communicate effectively and solve problems is critical for any position, but especially so for developers. 

Part of being a good developer is taking on new challenges and teaching others how to do the same—both of which require collaboration. Curiosity allows us to learn from each other by learning about different cultures, time zones and work styles. 

And when it comes down to it, creativity helps us think outside the box when solving problems that seem impossible at first glance!

In conclusion, I strongly recommend every developer take this article as a starting point and work on the non-technical skills they might be lacking. Don’t just get stuck in your technical comfort zone and wait until something bad happens: solve problems before they occur and become an all-rounder!

8 Steps To Improve Data Visualization Literacy

Data visualization is a powerful tool for communicating information understandably and engagingly. However, the growing number of data visualizations available can sometimes be overwhelming, which makes it challenging to find and interpret the most effective ones. 

This article will explore ways to improve your data literacy by becoming more adept at interpreting visualizations.

1. Learn About Data Literacy

Data literacy, as the name suggests, is the ability to read and interpret data. It’s a skill that can be applied across many fields and industries.

Data science is an interdisciplinary field whose core principles are data collection and analysis. Data scientists are often tasked with collecting and analyzing large data sets for business or research. Their analysis can range from simple to complex.

2. Acknowledge Your Biases

You, like everyone else, are biased. Your brain is a human being’s most powerful tool, but it can be tricked into making poor choices. It’s important to acknowledge that you have biases—and then try to correct them.

One of the most common ways people become biased is through repetition: if you’ve been told something before, you’re more likely to believe it than if someone tells you something for the first time. You are also more likely to believe something if it comes in a format that fits your preferences—for example, someone tells you he loves data visualization because he likes visualizations and graphs. 

Finally, when we hear information from people we trust (like family members or coworkers), our brains tend to accept what they say as true without question; this makes us vulnerable to misinformation from trusted sources such as politicians or news outlets.

3. Evaluate The Source And Methods

When evaluating a source, it’s essential to understand the origin and how it collected the data. You should also be familiar with how the data was processed. This includes:

• How did they prepare their data for visualization?
• What methods were used to collect their data?
• How were these methods applied, and what resources were used during this process?

4. Avoid Cognitive Bias When Reading Visualizations

We remember the first and last things we see, hear and read. This is known as the primacy effect (the first step) and the recency effect (the last thing). Our ability to recall things in this order is called the serial position effect.

For example: If you’re a salesperson who usually has 10 customers per day, you might think that 9 out of 10 customers are satisfied with their services — but that’s not always true! The customer satisfaction survey may be limited by its design or how it was conducted, so we need another way to understand who our most valuable customers truly are.

5. Compare and Contrast Multiple Sources

• Compare and contrast data visualization types.
• Compare and contrast different kinds of data: text, tables, numbers, charts, graphs, or maps.
• Use the same type of visualizations to compare data from multiple sources.

6. Learn to Create Effective Visualizations

Visualization tools can be used in several ways, so it pays to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve before you start making your own. It’s also worth noting that while some people are naturally gifted at creating data visualizations, most of us need a little practice.

A good starting point is learning the basics of Tableau and Excel (or PowerBI) since these are popular and easy-to-use programs with enough functions for most users. But even if you’re not interested in becoming a specialist user of these programs, many aspects will help improve your skills overall. 

In addition, there’s no reason “basic” shouldn’t mean beautiful—and there are some great resources for beginners who want something more than fundamental!

It would be best if you focused on telling stories with your visualizations; this is probably the most important skill for any data scientist or visualization designer because it ties back into our discussion about humans being storytelling animals above all else. 

As part of this process, it helps to understand how humans react differently depending on how much information is presented visually rather than verbally.

7. To Become Data Literate, You Must Understand How To Interpret Visualizations

Visualizations are used to simplify the complex and show relationships between concepts, trends in data, and outliers.

For example, show how several factors are related (e.g., if you have several variables that affect sales). Or you could show how one or two particular dimensions affect another dimension (e.g. how product quality affects customer satisfaction). You might also be interested in showing trends over time (e.g. what is happening with your sales each month?) or highlighting anomalies such as extreme values (e.g. which customers are most likely to buy expensive items?)

8. The Most Compelling Data Visualizations Are Transparent, Insightful, And Informative

Transparency means the data is clear and easy to understand. A good visualization provides an immediate understanding of the meaning behind the numbers. It should not require extra effort from the reader; instead, it should be intuitively obvious what’s happening at a glance.

A good example of transparency is a bar chart showing sales revenue over time. When you look at this chart quickly, you understand that there were two periods where revenues increased sharply (and then decreased slightly). Still, overall revenues were steady throughout this period of time. This type of simple “story” tells more than just a straight-up table with rows of numbers would do. 

When presented with just the raw numbers from this same data set (i.e., without any visual aids), many people won’t automatically know what they mean!

Insightful means we learn something new by looking at our data through different lenses/metaphors (e.g., bar charts vs. line graphs). Data visualization doesn’t have its language yet as math or music does; therefore, we need multiple ways to encode thoughts into images so others can interpret them as well! 

Using various types of visualizations helps us uncover connections between concepts. Hence, they make sense rather than being separate entities existing only within one domain while unrelated to everything else around them.

Summing Up

To become data literate, you must learn how to interpret visualizations. The best way to do this is by taking advantage of online resources. If you want an overview of the basics, check out an infographic on reading a chart or graph. You can also find additional resources through blog posts on data literacy and how it affects your business.

What Do Containerization, Kubernetes, And Kafka Have In Common?

Technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship are, in this era, the most featured composite that generates success. Utilizing technology to improve existing business processes can help enterprises to gain effectiveness and distinguish themselves from their competitors. Developing new products and services in a digital sphere can also help companies to stay ahead of the curve.

IT-oriented businesses are mainly working on global and more virtual systems to reach the masses. That’s why everything is now cloud Native – at least most of it is! 

Enhance Your Workflow With Containerization

Being Cloud Native does not yet mean that things are running smoothly and developers, programmers, and IT analysts do not face issues. They do! And that’s when innovative technology plays its part in introducing solutions such as containerization and more to make a user feel privileged. At the same time, all the adversity is dealt with through hi-tech and solution-based technology.

Containerization is enormous in terms of technology, development, and innovation. It’s changing how businesses operate, and they can’t return to the old ways. Kubernetes and Kafka are two of the most popular container-agnostic frameworks in the world, and together, they’re about to bring containerization to the crowd.

All You Need To Know About Containerization

Cloud computing cuts down on the capital expenditure of setting up the infrastructure and allows cloud hosting providers to handle the infrastructure’s scaling, maintenance, and management.

With the rampant increase in data, cloud computing was the need of the hour. It becomes baseless, lost, and eventually inoperative unless everything is organized. Where thousands of applications, websites, and IT features are introduced daily, containerization is a great organizing system. 

Containerization transforms an application into an isolated, abstracted form known as a container. A container is a prosecutable unit that encases an application code and its dependencies to run the app on any IT constitution. This process allows for application portability and makes deploying apps on any platform easy. It smoothes out the procedure of moving an app from one computing setting to another. 

The promise behind software containers is that it helps get the software to run reliably when moving it from one particular stage to another for processing, executing, or further development. A designated container consists of the entire functionality criteria of the application, including everything necessary to run it. 

Code, runtime, system tools, system libraries, and settings are all arranged into an executable package that takes up much less memory space and is autonomous. Numerous containers can be formed and redistributed from a single Operating System to multiple Operating systems and networks.  

By containerizing the applications and their dependencies, OS and underlying infrastructure differences are abstracted. 

Now, you can move your application quickly from a developer’s laptop to a testing environment and from there to the staging and then to production. And from a physical machine to any private or public cloud, always know your app will work just right.

Features Of Kubernetes 

There is a vast network of microservices working and using these containers. As more and more containers are being exercised, operative enterprises need orchestrational tools to manage and run these containers. 

Kubernetes is an acknowledged, authorized system for automating categorizing and grouping, and calibrating to manage containerized applications. It groups containers that make up an application into logical units called pod nodes and namespaces for easy management discovery. 

Kubernetes builds upon decades of experience running production workloads at Google and has a large and active community contributing to it. It brings accurate alignment, manageability, and portability to applications, becoming the leading orchestrator in executing and handling cloud containers and bridging solutions for developing more apps. 

Working With Kafka

Kafka is a Streaming read/write journal for Serializable Data Streams. It was first developed at Google as part of their reliable transport project. Facebook, Twitter, and other big companies later adopted Kafka. Kafka provides an API for developers to build SBT-compliant stream processing applications using Java or Node.js frameworks like React or Express.

What Do Containerization, Kubernetes, And Kafka Have In Common?

Kubernetes and Kafka are both Apache projects widely used in the IT industry. They have much in common, including their focus on calibration and high availability. Kubernetes is a container orchestration tool that helps manage and scale containerized applications. Kafka is a distributed streaming platform that helps process and transmits high volumes of data.

Both Kubernetes and Kafka are designed to be highly scalable and fault-tolerant. They both use a shared-nothing architecture and have a distributed systems design. This means they can be scaled horizontally by adding more nodes to the assemblage.

Kafka’s architecture is attractive to Kubernetes for various reasons, one being that if your organization is already in the process of standardizing the use of Kubernetes as an application platform, it’s a great reason to consider running Kafka there as well. 

By running Kafka on Kubernetes, organizations can streamline and automate operations such as updates, restarts, and monitoring – all of which are essentially built-in features of the Kubernetes platform.

Companies can take advantage of containers for their applications. By using containers, developers get access to all of the benefits of using modern software development tools like Kubernetes and Docker without having to concern themselves with underlying systems like MySQL or PostgreSQL. 

Kafka also allows companies to manage big data more efficiently by enabling data streaming from multiple sources into one platform. As data becomes more complex and scattered across various servers, Kafka can help you keep track of all of your data in one place so that you can quickly analyse it or use it in new ways. 

To Sum Up

Containerization, Kubernetes, and Kafka have a lot in common. These technologies can help you manage and deploy your applications more efficiently. Containerization allows you to package your applications into self-contained units that quickly deploy and run on any infrastructure. 

Kubernetes is a tool that helps you manage and orchestrate your containerized applications. Kafka is a messaging system that can help you decouple your applications and make them more scalable.

Achieving Balance

In today’s fast-paced world, getting caught up in the hustle and bustle of life is easy. We often prioritize work and other commitments over our own well-being, leaving little time for self-care and relaxation. 

However, achieving balance is essential to living a healthy and fulfilling life. This article will explore the meaning of balance, its benefits, and tips for achieving and maintaining balance in our daily lives.

Understanding Balance 

Balance means a state of equilibrium where all aspects of our lives are in harmony. Achieving balance means finding a way to allocate our time in a way that allows us to meet our personal and professional commitments while still prioritizing our well-being. It involves creating a daily routine that includes self-care activities, relaxation time, and work or personal commitments.

There are several different types of balance that we need to maintain in our lives. These include work-life balance, social balance, emotional balance, and physical balance.

Having a balanced lifestyle reduces stress, anxiety, and burnout while improving focus, productivity, and overall well-being.

How Balance Affects Our Physical Health

Reducing Stress

Chronic stress can have a negative impact on physical health, increasing the risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, and other health issues. According to the American Institute of Stress, job stress is a significant source of stress for adults, with 80% of workers reported feeling stressed on the job.

Improving Sleep

Lack of sleep is a common problem for those who struggle to balance work and personal life.  A study conducted by the  National Sleep Foundation states that adults must have a 7-9 hours of sleep per night. By achieving a better work-life balance, we can prioritize rest and improve our sleep patterns, leading to better physical health. 

According to a survey conducted by the American Psychological Association, 42% of adults reported that insufficient sleep affected their daily activities.

Promoting Physical Activity 

When work takes up too much time, it can be challenging to prioritize physical activity. However, regular exercise is critical for maintaining good physical health. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, only 23% of adults meet the recommended guidelines for weekly physical activity.

Reducing The Risk Of Burnout 

Burnout is a common problem for those who work long hours or have high levels of job stress. Burnout can lead to physical health problems such as exhaustion, headaches, and muscle tension. 

According to a survey conducted by Gallup, 23% of employees reported feeling burned out at work often or always.

How Balance Affects Our Mental Health

Reducing Stress And Anxiety

An unbalanced lifestyle can lead to chronic stress and anxiety. According to the American Psychological Association, chronic stress can lead to various mental health problems, including depression, anxiety, and burnout. 

Improving Overall Well-Being

When work becomes our sole focus, we can neglect other aspects of our lives, such as social connections and hobbies. These things are critical for overall well-being and can improve mental health. According to a study conducted by the University of Manchester, people who participate in social activities and hobbies are less likely to develop depression and anxiety.

Enhancing Job Satisfaction 

When we achieve a better work-life balance, we can feel more satisfied with our jobs. This can lead to better mental health and lower rates of burnout. According to a survey conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management, employees with a good work-life balance report higher job satisfaction and lower rates of burnout.

Improving Relationships

Working long hours can negatively impact our relationships with family and friends. This can lead to feelings of isolation and loneliness, negatively impacting mental health. 

Tips for Achieving Balance

Prioritizing Tasks 

We often have a long list of things to do, but not all of them are equally important. Identifying the most important tasks and focusing on completing them is important. This will help us avoid feeling overwhelmed and will allow us to focus on what’s really important.

Creating A Daily Routine 

Creating a daily routine can help us achieve balance by providing structure and consistency in our lives. A routine can help us allocate time for self-care and ensure that we are making progress toward our goals. Remember – considering your unique needs and preferences, establishing a routine that works for you is important.

Finding Ways To Relax And De-Stress 

Relaxation and stress reduction techniques are essential for achieving balance. We all experience stress in our lives, but chronic stress can harm our health and well-being. Finding ways to relax and de-stress can help us manage stress levels and improve our overall health. Some effective techniques include deep breathing, meditation, yoga, and massage therapy.

Getting Enough Sleep 

Sleep is essential for our physical and mental health, and a lack of sleep can have a negative impact on our mood, energy levels, and cognitive function. To ensure we get enough sleep, we should aim to get 7-9 hours of sleep each night, establish a consistent sleep schedule, and create a relaxing bedtime routine.

Exercise 

Exercise is another important component of achieving balance. It helps us manage stress levels, improve mood, and maintain physical health. It’s important to find an exercise routine that works for us, whether it’s jogging, swimming, cycling, or weightlifting. We should aim to exercise for at least 30 minutes a day, five days a week.

Taking Breaks

We live in a culture that often values productivity over self-care, but taking breaks and resting is necessary for our physical and mental health. Taking breaks and permitting ourselves to rest is essential for achieving balance. We should aim to take regular breaks throughout the day, get up and move around, and take time off when we need it.

Strategies for Maintaining Balance

Being Mindful Of Your Schedule 

Maintaining balance requires being mindful of your schedule. We should regularly assess our schedule to ensure we are not overcommitting ourselves and to identify areas where we can make adjustments. It’s important to be realistic about our time and to prioritize self-care and downtime.

Continually Reassessing Your Priorities 

Continually reassessing our priorities is important for maintaining balance. Our priorities can change over time, and adjusting our schedule and routine to reflect these changes is important. Regularly reassessing our priorities can help us avoid feeling overwhelmed and ensure that we are focusing on what’s most important.

Adjusting Your Routine As Needed 

Adjusting our routine as needed is another important strategy for maintaining balance. Adjusting our routine to reflect these changes is important as our needs and priorities change. This may involve rearranging our schedule, adding or removing tasks, or making other changes to maintain balance.

Wrapping Up

Remember– achieving balance is the key to a sustainable lifestyle. By understanding what balance means, why it is important, and implementing tips and strategies for achieving and maintaining balance, we can lead a more fulfilling and healthy life.

It is important to remember that achieving balance is an ongoing process and requires constant assessment and adjustments. It is okay to make mistakes and have days of feeling out of balance. The key is to recognize these moments and take steps to regain balance.

Launching A New Career In Technology

Technology has become a booming industry, with job opportunities growing rapidly in software development, data analysis, cybersecurity, and UX/UI design. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment in computer and information technology occupations is projected to grow 11% from 2019 to 2029, much faster than the average for all occupations. 

Launching a technology career can be exciting and challenging, requiring dedication, skill development, and networking. In this article, we’ll provide a step-by-step guide on launching a new career in technology, from assessing your interests and skills to navigating the job search.

Assessing Your Interests and Skills

The first step to launching a career in technology is to assess your interests and skills. While the tech industry offers many job opportunities, finding a career path that aligns with your passions and strengths is important. Here are some tips for assessing your interests and skills:

1. Take online assessments: Many online assessments can help you identify your strengths and interests. Some popular assessments include the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and the CliftonStrengths assessment. These assessments can provide valuable insights into your personality type, work style, and strengths.

2. Seek advice from professionals: Talk to professionals in the tech industry and ask for their advice on career paths and skills required for success. You can contact professionals through online communities, LinkedIn, or industry associations.

3. Explore online resources: Many online resources can help you explore different career paths in technology and identify skills required for each path. Some useful resources include job boards, industry reports, and online courses.

Researching Career Paths in Technology

Once you’ve identified your interests and skills, the next step is to research different career paths in technology. Here are some popular career paths in technology:

1. Software development: Software developers design, develop, and maintain software applications. They typically have strong programming skills and knowledge of programming languages such as Java, Python, or C++. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median annual wage for software developers was $107,510 in May 2019.

2. Data science: Data scientists analyze large data sets to identify patterns and insights. They typically have strong analytical skills and knowledge of programming languages such as R or Python. According to Glassdoor, the average base salary for a data scientist is $113,309 per year.

3. Cybersecurity: Cybersecurity professionals protect computer systems and networks from cyber-attacks. They typically have strong technical skills and knowledge of cybersecurity tools and techniques. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median annual wage for information security analysts was $99,730 in May 2019.

4. UX/UI design: UX/UI designers create user-friendly interfaces for software applications and websites. They typically have strong design skills and knowledge of user experience principles. According to PayScale, the average salary for a UX/UI designer is $72,137 per year.

Developing the Necessary Skills

Once you’ve identified a career path, developing the necessary skills is next. Here are some tips for skill development:

1. Enroll in courses: Online courses can be a great way to develop new skills and gain knowledge in your chosen field. Some popular online learning platforms include Udemy, Coursera, and edX.
2. Participate in hackathons or coding challenges: Hackathons and coding challenges can provide valuable hands-on experience and allow you to build a portfolio of projects. Some popular hackathon platforms include Devpost and HackerEarth.
3. Pursue internships or apprenticeships: Internships and apprenticeships can provide valuable real-world experience and allow you to network with professionals in your chosen field. Some popular internship platforms include Internshala and WayUp.
4. Join online communities: Online communities like GitHub and Stack Overflow can provide opportunities to collaborate with other professionals in your field and learn from their experiences.
5. Participate in open-source projects: Participating in open-source projects on platforms like GitHub can provide opportunities to collaborate with other professionals and gain visibility in the industry.

Navigating the Job Search

Once you’ve developed the necessary skills and built your network, the next step is to navigate the job search. Here are some tips for finding a job in technology:

1. Build a strong online presence: In today’s digital age, having a strong online presence is critical. Create a LinkedIn profile that highlights your skills, experience, and education. Also, ensure your online presence is professional, and your social media accounts portray you positively.

2. Attend networking events: Attending networking events can help you connect with professionals in the technology industry. These events can include conferences, workshops, and seminars. Research industry events in your area and attend them to meet people, learn about current trends, and get job leads.

3. Leverage job boards: Job boards such as Indeed and LinkedIn can be useful tools in your job search. These sites allow you to search for job openings based on job title, location, and company. Create a profile on these job boards and receive job alerts related to your search.

4. Connect with recruiters: Recruiters are professionals who help connect job seekers with companies looking for employees. Connect with recruiters on LinkedIn, attend career fairs, and sign up for recruiter newsletters to keep updated on job openings.

5. Join industry groups: Joining industry groups on social media platforms like LinkedIn can be a great way to connect with industry professionals. Join groups that align with your career interests and participate in group discussions.

6. Personalize your resume and cover letter: Personalizing your resume and cover letter for each job application can increase your chances of getting an interview. Research the company and job description and tailor your application materials to align with the company’s needs and values.

Summing Up

Launching a new career in technology requires dedication, skill development, and networking. By assessing your interests and skills, researching different career paths, developing the necessary skills, networking in the industry, and navigating the job search, you can increase your chances of success in the tech industry. 

The key is to stay curious, be open to learning new things, and continuously develop your skills to stay ahead of the curve. With the rapid growth of the tech industry, there has never been a better time to launch a career in technology.