Becoming a highly-paid software developer: Software developers are not paid to code
As a developer, it’s important to understand that businesses don’t hire you just to write code. In fact, they may not even need your code per se. What they require is a solution to their specific business problem.
Your code is simply a vehicle that enables them to achieve that solution. In other words, your code is a packaging of the solution that a business needs.
While anyone in a business can learn how to code and create a patchwork of code from various sources, it’s much more challenging for someone to analyze a business problem, determine how technology (code) can provide a superior solution compared to other options, and devise a plan (architecture) for how to execute that solution. This is where your specialized skills as a developer come into play.
Businesses will pay you for your ability to provide technical solutions that are superior to other solutions available for the problem at hand.
If you want to increase your earnings as a developer, it’s essential to understand your user.
As a developer, you typically have two types of users:
The business that hires you to develop the software and the end user who will use the software.
While the business is primarily concerned with achieving its objectives, the end-user is focused on solving their specific problem, depending on the software’s use case.
Therefore, the better you are at understanding the end-user’s needs and solving the business problem, the more value you can provide through the software you build. This, in turn, can lead to increased earnings and greater career opportunities.
To be continued …
