Article: Top Ten Interview Questions Every Scrum Master Should Know

Scrum master isn’t a magical software development role but it’s a different one.  Scrum masters keep the agile development process running by leveraging a set of psychological principles that helps everyone be their best.  Good scrum masters know the concepts behind the behaviors and those are at the heart of the ten questions every scrum master should know.

From the developer.com series, Top Ten Interview Questions. Read more…

Article: Top Ten Developer Interview Questions You Should Know

It seems like anyone that knows how to copy code from an Internet search or put a semicolon at the end of a line calls themselves a developer.  However, how do you sort those that understand development from those that just want to.  The answer, may be in these ten interview questions that every developer should know.  Developer is the workhorse role in the software development process as the Anatomy of a Software Development Role: Developer article points out.

From the developer.com series, Top Ten Interview Questions. Read more…

Article: Top 10 Interview Questions a Solution Architect Should Know

Building software isn’t like building bridges.  Building software doesn’t mean an understanding of material strength but it does mean understanding how different approaches are capable of coping with today’s emerging needs.  Solutions architects have some of the greatest experience requirements of any role in the software development.  These ten questions may be how the interviewer can quickly assess the experiences of a candidate.  You can find out more about the critical role in Anatomy of a Software Development Role: Solutions Architect.

Part of the developer.com series, Top Ten Interview Questions. Read more…

Article: Ten Development Lead Interview Questions You Should Know

Every development lead will need to know these questions, which will reveal the skills and technical knowledge of a candidate, their creativity in creating their own tools to solve problems, as well as their ability to train, support, and lead a development team. If you’re thinking about becoming a development lead, check out the article, “Anatomy of a Software Development Role: Development Lead,” for a comprehensive overview of what the job entails.

Part of the developer.com series, Top 10 Interview Questions.  Read more…

Article: Ten Interview Questions Every Functional Analyst Should Know

Bridging the gap between subject matter experts and the architects and developers who create solutions is hard work—but it’s work that the functional (or business) analyst is up for. Interviewers may challenge candidates with these ten questions so they’ll know that the candidate has the skills to help transform desires and dreams into developed code. The Anatomy of a Software Development Role: Functional Analyst can help you find out more about the role.

As part of the developer.com series, Top 10 Interview Questions.  Read more…

Article: Ten Interview Questions Every Project Manager Should Know

The project management role may not be specific to software development, but there are certainly specific skills that are needed for managing software development projects. Project manager candidates should be prepared to answer these ten questions when competing for a position. The Anatomy of a Software Development Role: Project Manager can help you find out more about the role.

As part of the developer.com series, Top 10 Interview Questions.  Read more…

Article: Ten Development Manager Interview Questions You Should Know

Development managers are anchors for getting development projects done.  The role has a greater impact on the success of the entire development team.  If you’re gunning for this role, you’ll need to be able to answer these ten questions that interviewers may ask you.  if you want to know more about the development manager role, you may want to see Anatomy of a Software Development Role: Development Manager.

The development manager is the first role we cover as a part of the new developer.com articles series, Top 10 Interview Questions. Read more…

Article: Freedom Through Apps: Targeting and Marketing Your Apps

The chink in the armor of most of the developers who are looking to retire rich by creating apps is marketing to users. It may be that you are able to learn how to create some independence. You might even have decided whether the lone wolf or the sexy startup is right for you. You might have even figured out how to iterate App development quickly, but you’re not done when you release your App into the App Store. It takes more than being available in the App Store to be successful, that’s when it’s time to put on your marketing hat—or buy a marketing hat to put on.

Sitting On a Store Shelf

Just because a product is available doesn’t mean that it will automatically sell itself. Just because your application is in the store doesn’t mean that it will sell. In fact, there are thousands of apps that are in the store with nearly zero sales. You don’t want this to be you. If you want to sell your app and retire, it’s going to take getting out there and doing some marketing.

Marketing is not a skill most developers have been taught or even understand. Development is a world of rules and if … then …. The world of marketing isn’t repeatable and just because it worked some way last time doesn’t mean it will behave the same way the next time. However, once your application is launched it’s marketing that will make it appeal to others—and convince them to buy.

Read More…

Article: Freedom Through Apps: Knowing How to Iterate Apps

Becoming rich through the development of applications is a common dream. At the start of this series, I wrote how the road leads through independence. From there, I explained the idea of the lone wolf app developer. The last article was how to get folks together and do a sexy startup. However, this is the structural component of making the dream of retiring rich. It’s time to learn how to create the compelling apps that users will buy.

Perhaps the most successful mobile game of all time is the Angry Birds franchise from Rovio—a Finnish game developer. At first glance, it appears that Rovio has been making great mobile games forever; however, the truth is much different. Angry Birds was their 52^nd game released. Not the first, nor even their fifth…, but rather their 52^nd. Flappy Bird, another popular bird game, found its creator, Nguyễn Hà Đông, re-using a character he had created for a game that was cancelled a year earlier. Not even the titans of the mobile game market earned their chops on their first game. Instead, they had to “kiss a lot of frogs” before they found their prince.

Applications and Apps

It used to be that Electronic Arts built megalithic games with storylines and cinematography and big budgets. Today, PopCap Games (a division of Electronic Arts) builds small games to run on mobile devices. Instead of a game development cycle running years, they run months. Instead of teams of hundreds, they’re teams of dozens.

The market has changed. The market used to be that we had to invest and test to see if it worked at the end. However, today we’re focused on the minimum viable product (MVP). That is what can I get out into the market to test and let users react to it. We need to learn what did—and didn’t work when the users got it. What did they love? What did they hate?

Read more…