Essential Skills that Every Open-Source Developer Needs
Technology is growing at a rapid pace, and so are we. Previously few people were interested in computers and programming, but programming as a profession is growing day by day and is already at a boom. This is due to many reasons, some of them being affordable computers and laptops and the growing understanding among us that technology and computers are the way to go.
A programmer creates and designs software as well as websites with the help of programming languages such as HTML, JavaScript, and many more. An open-source application is an application whose source code is openly available to everyone, and anyone can make changes to the application. The programmers who develop these open-source applications are known as open-source developers.
Open source web development is not an easy task, and to be a good open-source web developer, one needs a lot of computing and other skills. This is one of the reasons why big companies hire open-source web developer for their organization.
Essential skills that every Open-Source Developer Needs-
1. Dynamic Programming Languages
We already know that one should be good at using programming languages to become a good and skilful developer. To top it all off, if you want to be good at open source web development, you should have a good grasp of some of the dynamic programming languages like Python. At the Great Wide Open Conference of 2014, the open-source developer of HP, Mark Atwood, said that if you want to be good at open source web development or any development in general, you must be good with dynamic programming languages like Python and JavaScript.
2. Database Administration
Working with a bulk of data has always proven problematic for open-source developers. NoSQL and MYSQL are some of the most popular database admin tools, and you must be good at them to even have a chance of being good at open-source development. If you can top it off with some strong Hadoop skills, you will have a good advantage in the market as there is very less competition. To sum it all up-database administration is one of the most important things for an open-source developer.
3. Knowledge about Front End development
In the current market, companies tend to hire open-source developers for full-stack development and someone who has good design skills. Good designing skills are very important to make the application attractive, professional, and user-friendly. This is why programmers have some knowledge about the front-end skills such as HTML and CSS3.
3. Figure out a way to understand and work out with GitHub and Git
GitHub is a place where all the developers come together and share each other views and help in solving each other’s problems. This is a great resource, especially for open-source developers. Like GitHub, Git is also very important as it is an open-source distributed version of the control panel. This helps the developers in managing their projects. Having strong knowledge in Git is equally important as having the same management tool chef.
5. Finding Bugs and problems
Just like coding is important, so is its counterpart. If you are good at debugging, it could be a good practice to master your skills as a developer. A good open-source developer must know how to code and find a bug in it and fix it. Debugging can be beneficial if you decide to release your projects, as debugging will train you for what’s to come. To be a good debugger, you must be good at using the debugger and bug trackers.
6. Communication
Communication is a major skill that everyone must have as most jobs require a person to have good communication skills. Communication skills are so important in open-source development because of its community and its highly collaborative nature.
Every open-source developer must know what they are building, why they are building, and what changes they have made to the existing code to differentiate it from its existing version. To do this perfectly, one must be cool, calm, and share his opinions with his peers. There are many online forums where people of this community come together to help each other by exchanging their views about a particular topic.
Conclusion
There are many reasons why technology is where it is now. One of the reasons is the habit of asking questions and curiosity. A programmer is someone who uses programming languages to develop applications and websites. This profession is in demand, and companies are ready to hire open-source developers with good skills. Some of the skills required to be a good open-source developer are mentioned in this article. You must remember that just like coding is important for programming, the same goes for debugging as well.
