Aspired to become a cloud developer? Check out our step by step guide, it will help you through all your journey to becoming a cloud developer.
The world is witnessing rapid advancements in cloud computing technology. So, at first, it is important to understand what is cloud computing? Simply put, cloud computing deals with the delivery of computing power, applications, database, and storage capacity on-demand through the internet.
Cloud services platforms have increased in popularity because of the low cost and flexible provision of IT resources quickly. Since cloud computing does not involve any massive investments in hardware, many businesses have been driving towards the adoption of cloud computing.
Also Read: How to become an AWS Architect?
Most important of all, cloud computing also provides the facility of required type and size of computing resources as per demands. These factors can be accounted for as the notable reasons for the rise in demand for cloud computing career. The following discussion would proceed with a step by step illustration of the mandatory things to become a cloud developer.
Understanding the Job Role of a Cloud Developer
The foremost aspect to focus on this guide on how to become cloud developer is the job role. A clear impression of the job role of cloud developers can help in understanding what you are getting into! Cloud developers would have distinct roles and responsibilities at the associate and professional levels. At the associate level, developers are required to learn skills for developing cloud applications effectively.
They are required to build cloud applications with resources procured from a cloud platform. Furthermore, they also have to implement their skills for debugging the code and tracing errors effectively. Another important factor for cloud developers is clear awareness of cloud computing tools and services. This can help them in making reasonable decisions regarding IT solutions that would suit the requirements of a business.
Other than these aspects, professionally certified cloud development personnel should also deal with the needs of security and scalability for cloud applications. The professional-level certification for cloud developer would imply sophisticated responsibilities. Professional level cloud developers have to use general DevOps practices for developing and deploying applications on different cloud platforms.
Basic Requirements to Become Cloud Development Professional
After a clear awareness of what is cloud computing and the different roles of cloud development personnel, let us proceed to the next section! This section would focus on the basic criteria for an individual to become a cloud development professional. Any individual with basic and advanced skills in programming could opt for a cloud computing career.
Individuals need to be a specialist in any of the programming languages for becoming a proficient cloud computing professional. It is interesting to note that almost 98% of cloud developers have at least two years of work experience in software or website development. Therefore, a person with experience as a developer in the IT industry would be considered eligible for becoming a cloud developer.
However, it is not easy to compete with the majority of candidates in the cloud computing domain presently. So, the expertise of an individual in the development of apps, software, and websites and writing codes is also required. Just experience would not be sufficient if you have not learned the skills for development.
Educational Qualification for Cloud Development
The next important concern in the guide on how to become cloud developer is the educational qualification. The most basic requirement to pursue a career in cloud computing is a Bachelor’s degree in computer science or relevant filed. If candidates have completed their Bachelor’s degree in other technical fields, then a Master’s degree in Computer science is preferable.
However, it is not mandatory to have these specific educational qualifications in computer science. Any individual with the required skillset and interest in cloud computing could try to become a cloud developer. The basic skills which an individual should have to pursue a career in cloud development are as follows:
- Proficiency in one programming language at the minimum.
- Comprehensive knowledge of database and software development concepts.
- Basic skills in networking.
- Fundamental understanding of cloud infrastructure.
- Basic awareness of virtualization and hypervisor technologies.
Basic networking certifications can be highly efficient in developing basic competencies in networking. Also, it can help in obtaining a primitive impression of network infrastructure. These factors can help in better understanding of core concepts related to cloud architecture.
Cloud Development Certifications
Now, it is essential to look for sources to gain and validate cloud developer skills. The three most notable names in cloud computing presently are AWS, Azure and Google Cloud.
- Amazon Web Services (AWS) provides two different certifications for cloud development, i.e. AWS Certified Developer Associate and AWS Certified DevOps Engineer.
- Microsoft Azure offers two different certifications for the Azure cloud developers i.e. Exam AZ-203: Developing Solutions for Microsoft Azure and AZ-400: Microsoft Azure DevOps Solutions
- Google Cloud provides certification for the Cloud Developer professional i.e. Google Cloud Certified Associate Cloud Engineer at Associate level and Google Cloud Certified Professional Cloud Developer at Professional level.
All these platforms are reliable for obtaining certification to start a career in cloud development are reliable. Each of these platforms has distinct approaches and learning paths for achieving certifications for cloud development professionals. These certification courses are largely intended to help in the evaluation of your skills and proficiency in different areas.
The areas include designing, development, deployment, management, and monitoring of cloud applications and services. The certification is also a vital credential in your resume that specifies your capabilities in a specific cloud service. For example, AWS Certified Developer Associate certification would validate your basic skills in designing and developing applications on AWS.
As an experienced cloud development professional, you can grow your career as an AWS consultant. Check the 8 Best AWS Consultant Jobs in 2019.
Basic Skills for Cloud Development Professionals
The cloud developer skills that you need to learn to start your cloud career also form a crucial part of this guide. This aspect of our discussion shall focus on the different areas that would be covered in a cloud developer certification course. These skills also imply that you need to have these skills for obtaining a promising job as a cloud developer.
- Comprehensive knowledge of core cloud architecture concepts and services.
- Setting up and configuration of the environment for a cloud solution.
- Planning and configuration for a cloud solution.
- Deployment and implementation of a cloud solution.
- Configuration of access and security precedents.
- Make sure of the successful conduct of a cloud solution.
- Designing cloud-native applications with scalability and accessibility.
- Development and testing applications.
- Integration of cloud vendor-specific services.
- Management and monitoring of application performance.
- Installation and configuration of command-line toolkit and Software Development Kit (SDK).
The skills mentioned above are highly important for a person looking to pursue a career in cloud development.
Detailed Investigation of Cloud Developer Skills
With the information mentioned above, it may be easier for you to know the basic skills required to become a cloud developer. However, this is not as simple as it looks! There are many sub-topics involved in the courses for cloud developer certification. Let us take a look at the different topic areas in detail to obtain better insights to prepare for a cloud development career.
1. Designing
The first topic area that is important for a career in cloud development is designing. In this particular area, candidates would have to learn the design of performing applications and APIs and the mechanisms for securing applications. Candidates would also have to learn the management of application data by learning data ingestion systems and data storage options.
You would also need to learn the best practices as well as recommended practices and documentation for security. Designing would also involve a focus on the re-architecture of applications from legacy systems to cloud platforms. So, cloud developers would have to learn about the use of managed services and best practices for migration.
2. Development
The second area of study in a cloud development certification course would deal with the development and testing of applications. This area would be associated with establishing a development environment and a continuous integration pipeline. Furthermore, candidates would learn different methods for testing applications such as performance testing, integration testing, and load testing. Most important of all, you would learn the various aspects of writing code such as algorithm design and agile methodology. Also, you would know about modern application patterns and code efficiency.
3. Deployment
The next important concern in cloud development would be the deployment of applications. So, candidates have to learn about the selection of suitable deployment strategies based on the target computing environment. Also, you would have to learn about deployment of specific cloud functions and establish triggers that would invoke the functions.
Some of the other crucial areas that would be covered in case of deployment include the creation of data storage resources. Subsequently, you will also learn about deployment and implementation of networking resources and automation of resource provisioning. Candidates pursuing professional cloud developer careers would also learn the management of service accounts in the deployment section.
4. Monitoring
One of the most significant elements of cloud development is monitoring. The necessity of observing whether a particular system or application is performing effectively is important. Therefore, candidates would have to learn about the installation of logging and monitoring agent and managing Virtual Machine tasks.
Cloud development professionals would also have to deal with the evaluation of metrics related to application performance. Also, it is essential to learn about the diagnosis and resolution of issues in application performance. For example, learning about troubleshooting network issues or setting up logging and tracing.
Steps to Prepare Yourself to Build a Career in Cloud Development
So, we have outlined the different topics that you have to cover for starting a career in cloud development. Now, let us point out the steps that you can follow to establish a career in cloud development.
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Educational qualification
The first step is associated with ensuring that you have the required educational background for pursuing a career in cloud development. Even if there is no specific prerequisite on educational qualification, a bachelor’s or master’s degree in computer science is preferable.
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Learning programming language
The next step is associated with learning the basics to earn a good cloud developer salary in the job! The most basic requirement is fluency in a particular programming language. You can find the most common programming languages for cloud-based development such as SQL, Python, JavaScript, Ruby, C++, or PHP. Choose only one of them and make sure you get good at it!
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Obtaining experience
Once you have made sure of learning one programming language perfectly, it’s time for the next step. Experience! Yes, you have to earn a minimum experience of one or two years in software or web development. This is the most basic requirement to start a career in cloud development, and you cannot ignore it.
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Know more about the cloud
In the fourth step of your journey towards becoming a cloud developer, it is important to get the cloud basics. You have to gain knowledge about the basic cloud concepts and the working of the cloud. Most important of all, you need to pursue information about the features and benefits associated with the use of the cloud. You can gain these inferences easily from experience in software or web development. Most important of all, you need to get real-time experience in using different cloud platforms in this step.
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Go for a certification course
Enroll for a reliable certification course to learn specifically about cloud platforms. This would help you gain platform-specific skills, thereby improving the prospects for your future career. However, you need to choose different certification courses based on their popularity and efficiency. Since a certificate acts as a valid credential for proving your capabilities in cloud development, it cannot be undermined!
Also Read: How much an AWS Consulting Freelancer earn on an hourly basis?
Scope for a Career in Cloud Development
The scope for a career in cloud development cannot be painted in a few words. However, let us assume an example to show the importance of cloud development professionals. Assume that a brick and mortar store selling groceries intends to go online. The store has to introduce a loyalty program to reach its customers through a mobile application.
In such a situation, anyone would recommend the development of a mobile application that would be connected directly to the database on physical servers at the store’s brick mortar location. But, what if the online store suddenly becomes a worldwide phenomenon for its product quality or uniqueness? Would the store be able to deal with such a high volume of data on its physical servers? It could be difficult, very difficult actually!
In such cases, the talent and skills of cloud developers help in the development of cloud applications. Now, the store would not have to be worried about the facility of storage capacity or management of its database. That clearly shows one of the reasons for which cloud development has a lot of scope in terms of career.
An Overview of Cloud Developer Salary
If you are curious to know about the cloud developer salary, it totally depends on the cloud platform that you choose. Also, it depends on the knowledge, skills, experience, and certification you have. Still, here is an insight into the Cloud Developer salary for AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud developers.
As per the ZipRecruiter salary report, the average annual AWS Developer salary in the US is $125,714.
As per the ZipRecruiter salary report. the average annual Azure Developer salary in the US is $132,148.
As per the ZipRecruiter salary report, the average annual Google Cloud Engineer salary in the US is $127,978.
Are You Ready to Become a Cloud Developer?
On a closing note, the information mentioned above could efficiently serve as a guide to find your career path in cloud development. The most interesting aspects of this discussion included the skill areas and subtopics required for cloud development. The reflection on individual steps to prepare for a career in cloud development also served credible insights into this discussion.
Promising cloud developer salary estimates and the importance of cloud development clearly show better career opportunities. Furthermore, the interplay between traditional software and application development shows the opportunity for many IT professionals to pursue a career in cloud development. Nobody would want to miss out on such a prolific career path, would you?
