Wizard of apps

Thanks to the mobile app revolution that began with Steve Jobs’ App Store (which had a profound impact on India’s developer community), app development is being seen as a big wave in ­outsourced development.

The lowdown

Thanks to the mobile app revolution that began with Steve Jobs’ App Store (which had a profound impact on India’s developer community), app development is being seen as a big wave in ­outsourced development. The usage of services like gaming, video calls, emails, music, etc provide tremendous ­opportunities for mobile ­application ­developers. Application development involves writing ­software and programmes for handheld devices based on platforms like Android, BlackBerry, iPhone iOS etc offered by various handset ­manufacturers. The mobile ­application ­revolution has also opened up business ­opportunities in India both for developers and ­service providers. India, with more than 500 million mobile customers, is ranked as the world’s ­second biggest mobile phone market and also offers highly skilled ­software professionals. However, developers will have to ­carefully consider not only which platform to ­support but also which store to promote their applications

Clockwork
9am: Log in
9.30am: Review the previous day’s work
10am: Meeting with the team, ­setting a goal for the day
11.30am: Discussion with ­individual team mates, if required
Noon: Develop, design, code and unit testing
2pm to 2.30pm: A quick bite for lunch and refreshment
3pm: Test and coding
5.15pm to 6pm: Code ­integration, discussion on dependency
6.30pm: Regression testing
7.30pm: Coffee break
7.30pm: Done for the day

The ­payoff
The pay depends on your ­qualifications and experience, starting from around Rs. 20,000 per month

Skills/TRAITS
* Creativity and innovation
* Tech savvy
* Attention to detail
* Thoughtfulness with a sense of developing apps that address human needs or desires
* Some business acumen is also required
* A go-getter attitude
* Passion to work
* Knowledge of coding and how to use design pattern
* One should know how to get things done

Getting there
Obtain a degree in computer ­science such as BE/BTech degree course from a ­reputable college. You could also consider doing one of the ­various courses available at private ­computer training ­institutes. You need to be ­proficient in a ­programming ­language such as C, C++, Objective C for writing ­applications on iOS or Java. Learn the basics and work on projects to furnish your skills. Build your knowledge base by creating your own ­software ­applications. Start to build ­something simple on your own. Don’t focus on building a hit, just try to make a simple application that is user-friendly and provide some high utility solution to mobile users

Institutes and URLs
* Indian Institute of Information Technology, multiple locations;
www.iiita.ac.in, www.iiitdmj.ac.in, www.iiitm.ac.in, www.iiitdm.ac.in, www.iiitd.ac.in
* Indian Institute of Technology, multiple locations across India;
jeeadv.iitm.ac.in
* Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani
www.bits-pilani.ac.in
* National Institutes of Technology, multiple locations;

Pros and cons
* Creative and challenging work
* You can rake in big money
* Long working hours
* High pressure work in a ­fast-moving field
* You can work for the global market

Memory management is a major issue in all available smartphones. It is challenging to develop an app which is well optimised with proper memory management --- Senthil Nayagam, project manager, Dot Com Infoway Madurai