There’s no denying the continued growth of mobile technology. From the iPad mini to the Samsung Galaxy Note to even Microsoft’s new Surface tablet, these latest gadgets are driving the demand for apps, which in turn drives the demand for mobile developers.
Whatever your programming experience, rest assured there are many transferable skills when making the move to mobile development. In many cases, the languages and IDEs are similar to those used in desktop or web programming.
The Growing Demand for Mobile Developers
Companies like Apple and Google make billions of dollars per year in app sales on the iOS and Android platforms. This virtual gold mine has led to many startup companies, armed with venture capital, trying to cash in with the next Angry Birds or Cut the Rope.
This demand for new apps is not limited to games. Business app development is also a growing trend, as organizations migrate their in-house desktop or web-based applications to mobile platforms.
In short, the mobile development space is hot! Many job seekers have their pick of the best iPhone and Android programming positions.
Looking at Mobile Development Skills
The biggest difference when programming for a smartphone or tablet compared to the desktop involves having to deal with fewer resources. Display sizes are smaller, so your interface design skills need to take into account less screen real estate. Typically, you will have less RAM to work with as well; memory leaks need to be watched, especially on the iOS platform which doesn’t use garbage collection.
Java programmers should feel at home programming for the Android platform, especially those with Linux experience. Both iOS and Android leverage the OpenGL ES for graphics and SQLite for data persistence, so experience with those libraries is a big help.
Developers familiar with .NET and Silverlight have a leg up when programming for Microsoft’s new Surface tablet as well as Windows 8, since Metro uses much of the same technology as Silverlight and WPF.
If you are interested in mobile development jobs, make an appointment with your local recruiter, as they will know who is hiring in addition to having a handle on the experience needed to get the gig. As one of the top technical staffing companies in New York City, APN Consulting has recruiters on staff that can help you find that great mobile development gig for the iPhone or Android.