Packt’s team of industry experts share their opinions on technology today and their learning recommendations to keep developers relevant in 2017.
Keeping up with the rapidly changing tech landscape can be a challenge for developers, which is why Packt aim to make staying relevant as easy as possible. As part of this mission, Packt have teamed up with a range of the industry's leading thinkers to collate their insights on 2017's tech landscape. The team of industry experts are not only tech experts and published Packt authors, but are all actively driving technology forward in their sectors; from game developers to programmers, data scientists to security analysts. Packt's ‘Skill Up: Developer Talk' report, which is available to download here, shares the insights from this wide range of industry experts in order to build a clear picture of the state of software now, and help developers map their essential learning for 2017.
What to expect from ‘Skill Up: Developer Talk'
Skill Up: Developer Talk' is essential reading for developers wanting to stay relevant and get ahead.Its juxtaposition of insights from Packt's Developer Skills Report, published in July 2016, and direct testimony from tech professionals creates an all-encompassing view of today's tech landscape. Developers can benefit from the advice shared in in-depth interviews with their expert peers, as well as Packt's recommendations for the essential skills to learn in 2017 on their recently launched online learning platform, Mapt.
The report features interviews with Packt's team of industry experts, from a Google software engineer to award-winning game designers, who specialise in the following sectors:
- Web development
- Mobile development
- Game development
- Programming
- Data
- Security
As well as sharing their predictions on ‘the next big thing' developers should be learning, the experts reflect on developments in their field over the past year, the challenges and opportunities their sector faces in 2017, and their frontline experience of learning and developing in their careers.
Download ‘Skill Up: Developer Talk' here.
What should developers be learning in 2017?
‘Learn about how browsers actually work. Many developers have a broad understanding of the Javascript framework they grok, but a poor or non-existent understanding of the relationship between ECMAScript, JavaScript runtimes, event loops, and browser APIs, just to name a few. I suppose it's similar to driving a car without understanding how the engine works, but you can bet Formula 1 drivers knows what's going on under the hood.'
Matt Frisbie, Software Engineer at Google
Author of AngularJS Web Application Development Cookbook, AngularJS: Maintaining Web Applications, and Angular 2 Cookbook: Second Edition
‘New [mobile] developers need to take the time to understand the view lifecycles on the platform for which they are developing. You need to understand how you can push pixels to the screen, when they will show and when they will disappear... Lifecycle operations are important and need to be learned and mastered early on.'
Keith Elliott, Senior Mobile Application Architect
Author of Swift 3 New Features
‘One of the most important things to learn is to have a sense of scope. It is much better to create something small and polished first instead of trying to create a huge project and then stop midway through development.'
John Doran, Technical Game Designer
Author of Unreal Engine Game Development Cookbook, Building an FPS Game in Unity, Unity Game Development Blueprints, Getting Started with UDK, UDK Game Development, and Mastering UDK Game Development
‘When we're developing software, there must be an element of learning. Either the technology is new or the solution approach (or both) is new. A known solution that's built with known technology is generally something that can be downloaded.'
Steven F. Lott, veteran Python Programmer
Author of Python Essentials, Mastering Object-Oriented Python, Functional Python Programming, and Python for Secret Agents
‘It will be very important for data scientists to add value in ways that go beyond knowing how to run machine learning and statistical models. Building presentation and storytelling skills can go a long way, as can adding domain-specific expertise (i.e., industry-specific knowledge).'
Brett Lantz, Data Scientist and Sociologist
Author of Machine Learning with R, R: Data Analysis and Visualisation, and R: Unleash Machine Learning Techniques
‘Security around IoT and ICS continues to be a growing issue into the 21st century. Whilst IoT is a big buzzword right now, it will influence things to come heavily as non-traditional integrated systems are implemented and abused in increasingly strange situations.'
Cameron Buchanan, Penetration Tester
Author of Kali Linux CTF Blueprints, Kali Linux Wireless Penetration Testing: Beginner's Guide, Python Web Penetration Testing Cookbook, and Python: Penetration Testing for Developers
Discover more insights in the ‘Skill Up: Developer Talk', available for download here.
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Note to editors
For more information or to request a free version of Mapt, please get in touch with Greta Geoghegan on the details below.
About Packt
Founded in 2004 in Birmingham, UK, Packt's mission is to help the world put software to work in new ways through the delivery of effective learning and information services to developers.
Working towards that vision, the company has published more than 4000 books and videos, created by working developers who are proven problem solvers and wish to share their expertise. Packt's library provides on-demand learning and skills to developers with the actionable knowledge they need to get the job done and stay relevant in ever-changing environments - whether it's learning an emerging language or brushing up on their programming skills.
As part of Packt's mission, the company has awarded more than $1 million through Open Source Project Royalty program, helping numerous projects become household names along the way. Please visit www.packtpub.com for more information.
About Mapt
Mapt empowers developers to gain a competitive edge by filling in knowledge gaps and charting learning journeys towards professional goals. Mapt's skills platform is built for and powered by developers, revealing the in-demand skills that every dependable developer needs for continuous learning. Drawing from Packt's library of more than 4000 books, eBooks and videos, Mapt curates the best content to help developers advance their careers and build better software - while saving hours of time wasted searching for the right resources.
Stay relevant. Try Mapt now at mapt.io and watch the video here.
Press enquiries
Digital Glue
Greta Geoghegan
greta@digitalglue.eu
0121 399 0067