Being recognised as a software developer of note typically comes through involvement in successful projects (particularly with regard to their size, complexity and inherent technologies), reputation of the employer involved and your career progression. However, as already discussed, it is important not to stand still, and that is where active continuing professional development (CPD) is crucial.

THE NEED FOR CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

CPD is critical for anyone working in the IT sector, and perhaps particularly so for software developers as they often work at the bleeding edge of technological change.

In an ever-evolving workplace where languages, frameworks, services and systems are rapidly being introduced, modified and discontinued in the merest blink of an eye, it is important that you actively track your accumulated skills and document your knowledge and experience. This will help you to identify any gaps and target potential opportunities for learning.

Gaining some form of professional recognition, typically through the completion of training courses and technical certification, is the natural by-product of this activity. In addition, having an IT-related skills framework within which to operate and evolve is also very useful to chart your progress. In this chapter we’ll examine both these themes.

SKILLS FRAMEWORK FOR THE INFORMATION AGE

As a would-be IT professional, you should gain familiarity with the Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA). SFIA defines skills and competencies that practitioners should possess to be effective in different IT and computing roles across the sector. It is also a useful tool for employers as it allows them to compare the skills they have in their existing workforce against the skills they need to complete technical projects and retain their competitive edge.

For software development, BCS’s guidance suggests that practitioners will be involved in:

The planning, designing, creation, amending, verification, testing and documentation of new and amended software components in order to deliver agreed value to stakeholders. The identification, creation and application of agreed software development and security standards and processes. Adopting and adapting software development lifecycle models based on the context of the work and selecting appropriately from predictive (plan-driven) approaches or adaptive (iterative/agile) approaches.

(SFIA Foundation 2020)

SFIA’s six skills categories are:

• strategy and architecture;
• change and transformation;
• development and implementation;
• delivery and operation;
• skills and quality;
• relationships and engagement.

SFIA also outlines seven levels of responsibility. Levels 2 to 7 do not reflect academic levels; they outline the expected levels of responsibility that individuals will have. Level 2 practitioners, for example, will be expected to carry out instructions given by more senior colleagues while those at Level 6 will be developing organisational policies and strategies, planning and leading the software development activities within their organisations.

CERTIFICATION PROGRAMMES RECOGNISED BY INDUSTRY

Obtaining a form of vendor certification can give you an edge in a sometimes crowded software developer market. Of course, it’s no substitute for comprehensive ‘battle-hardened’ experiential learning and the successful development and deployment of multiple industry projects, but it can open doors in organisations where particular frameworks, languages or toolsets are favoured.

We’ll start by exploring one of the industry’s market leaders: Microsoft.

Microsoft Certified Associate

From the end of June 2020, Microsoft is retiring its popular and recognisable Microsoft Certified System Administrator (MCSA), Microsoft Certified Solutions Developer (MCSD) and Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert (MCSE) certifications. This is part of the industry giant’s gear change to more role-oriented training. So, while the commercially valuable Microsoft Certified Associate (MCA) label remains, the underlying exams and certificates are structured a little differently.

The roles identified by Microsoft include developer, data engineer, DevOps engineer, solutions architect, security engineer, AI engineer, data scientist, administrator and functional consultant. However, if we narrow our scope to the developer role, these can further be categorised as:

• Azure Developer;
• Microsoft 365 Developer;
• Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations Apps Developer;
• Power Apps + Dynamics 365 Developer.

In each category, pathway progress is marked using three levels: Fundamentals, Associate and Expert.

Now let’s examine the different categories and some sample certifications.

Cloud technologies

At the time of writing it is becoming clear to many employers in the IT sector that their employees’ knowledge of cloud technologies needs improvement; this is particularly true for developers. This is mainly due to the incredibly fast shift from ‘tin’ (i.e. physical servers) to virtualised computing and service-oriented architecture, both of which have found a natural home in the cloud.

Consequently, the demand for certification in cloud technologies has become a key concern, although due to market fragmentation there are a number of vendors involved.

Microsoft Azure Developer

For those interested in Microsoft’s cloud solution, this pathway covers the technical aspects that a full-stack developer or software engineer needs to know. Typical topics include Azure App Service, functions, Cosmos DB (a schema-agnostic database), global apps (PaaS), search techniques, function triggers, availability and resistance, design and implementation, and performance.

Amazon Web Services Certified Developer – Associate Level

For those more interested in Amazon’s cloud solution, this certification covers the broad range of skills required to develop, debug and deploy applications on Amazon Web Services (AWS). Typical topics include Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2), storing data and retrieving it from S3 (Amazon’s simple storage service), DynamoDB (Amazon’s relational database service), routing, Lambda functions for serverless applications, building APIs, monitoring application performance using CloudWatch and X-Ray, Identity and Access Management (IAM) authentication and authorisation, messaging, notification, caching and creating resources.

It is worth noting that Oracle also has certification for its cloud-based technologies, focusing on the overall instruction, SaaS and PaaS.

Language specific

Many programming languages have recognised certification programmes, whether these are first-party (i.e. provided by the language’s vendor) or third-party ‘vendor-neutral’ formats made available through independent organisations. There are far too many to cover here, but representative examples include the following.

OpenEDG Python Institute certifications

The Python Institute is an independent not-for-profit project set up by the Open Education and Development Group. Its aims are threefold:

1. to promote the language;
2. to train a new generation of Python developers;
3. to support professional careers in the language and its related technologies.

The certification aims to provide a global standard in Python programming for software developers, providing recognition of skills, knowledge and overall coding proficiency in the language. It is supported by Pearson VUE (a world leader in computer-based testing). The examinations map content to three competency levels:

• Certified Entry-Level Python Programmer (PCEP) – bronze level;
• Certified Associate in Python Programming (PCAP) – silver level;
• Certified Professional in Python Programming (PCPP) – gold level.

JavaScript certifications

A simple option is to consider the W3Schools JavaScript Developer Certificate. This represents an introductory validation of JavaScript and HTML document object model knowledge and skills.

The Certified Internet Web Professional (CIW) programme is another consideration for JavaScript programmers as it has a series of qualifications targeting specific web development areas, for example:

• Web Foundation Series;
• Web and Mobile Design Series;
• Web Design Series;
• Web Development Series;
• Web Security Series.

Additionally, the Web Development Professional series is of particular interest as it contains a specific CIW JavaScript specialist certificate.

Oracle Java certifications

At the time of writing, Oracle University offers the popular Oracle Certified Professional (OCP) Java SE (Standard Edition) Developer credential, which has widespread industry recognition. Although this is primarily made available for the current version of the language, earlier versions remain available (and supported) for some time.

Other certification levels are available for various versions of the language, including:

• Oracle Certified Junior Associate – novice-level certification;
• Oracle Certified Associate (OCA) – SE-based certification;
• Oracle Certified Master (OCM) – SE-based certification;
• Oracle Certified Master (OCM) – EE (Enterprise Edition) certification.

TIPS FOR GETTING PROFESSIONAL RECOGNITION

Here are some ideas for acquiring recognition and the reasons for doing so:

• Recognised frameworks provide a benchmarking mechanism.
• Value the role of CPD; choose an employer that invests in its employees and that values CPD to the same degree as you do.
• Identify your training needs and communicate these clearly to employers and other relevant people and organisations.
• Set yourself clear career goals and chart how these can be achieved.
• Identify what skills (and levels of experience) are required to function in a given role.
• Remember that certification isn’t forever – it will require periodic updating.

SUMMARY

In this chapter we have explored the options for professional recognition, noting that this is a snapshot of the certification market when this book was written and so routes to professional recognition will change as software technologies advance.