2C: employment trends in SD Flashcards
employment trends
- outsourcing
- contract-based employment
changing nature of software applications
web and mobile tech: cloud computer, apps for mobile phones, AI
outsourcing meaning
when businesses contract services of other businesses/specialists specializing in particular areas of SD
when is outsourcing used
not only for writing software, but also for any task a business undertakes
e.g. lighting importer outsources storage + distribution functions to other specialists
is it more or less effective to outsource to a specialist
more effective to outsource to a specialist rather than do it in house
general reason why would SD companies outsource work
if they do not have expertise/resources to do it internally
other reasons to outsource
- control/reduce costs
- higher quality + easily adapts to change from specialists
- free internal resources for other purposes
- no resources
- access to new tech
- faster development times
who uses outsourcing
everyone; some companies may not require an information tech department and outsource the whole operation
what is a contract programmer
a programmer in a position of employment which is a short-term contract to write particular software
contracts can be with…
companies writing their own software for internal use, with SD companies or for external customers
websites for contract programmers
setup to connect programmers with customers looking for contractors
- utilise auctions where programmers compete for work
- many sites: rating systems based on quality/timeliness of past projects
general time frame of contracts
few weeks to 12 months
environments in which developers work
Internet: growing SD environment
- allows global collaboration
- managing + combining contributions w/ CASE tools
- open source projects use CVS
CVS
concurrent versions system: allows different versions of a file to co-exist, allows concurrent edits
how is software development approached
teams of developers working closely together
- in the past tasks were assigned and completed in isolation
- devs: multi-skilled, working together with other devs + users
