7 Reasons Why Software Development is So Hard

Software Development is a booming industry that offers endless growth opportunities. Developers are often regarded as the unknown heroes who create, design, execute and manage software programs. It is undoubtedly the most remunerative career path for talented individuals. Software Developers are required in almost every field, be it technology, finance, healthcare, automobile, military, and the list goes on! As per a survey, the employment growth of software development will witness a significant hike of 19%, which is fantastic compared to other jobs. 

On the other hand, developers are exhausted; nearly 80% of software developers reported feelings of burnout. Software development is a complex field that comes with its own sets of difficulties, difficulties you need to tackle every day, difficulties that require your immediate attention, and a lot more complications. In this blog, we will look at seven important reasons why Software Development is so hard and what you can do to make your job a bit easier.

1. Software Industry is Continuously Developing

Software industry trends are rapidly evolving. Every day there are new programming techniques, new demands, the latest updates, and a lot more. As a software developer, you need to continuously keep yourself updated with the latest trends, even to maintain a simple codebase. To master this domain, you don’t only need to focus on the current software demands but also need to look ahead. Mentioned below are some of the practices that can help you stay up-to-date with the latest software trends.  

• Plan learning days in your schedule. Use these days to keep yourself updated with the latest trends and updates.  
• Take advantage of online learning platforms and websites to enhance your skills.
• Contributing to an open-source platform can provide you with hands-on practice.

2. Coordinating with Multiple Teams is a Big Hassle

For a proper software development lifecycle, all the teams, like network, security, database, testing, etc, are required to work efficiently. Teamwork is essential for delivering great software to end-users. Hence you need to collaborate with different domains to ensure that everyone is on the same page. Managing multiple teams is a challenging task and managing them virtually is even more complex. You need to spend endless time scheduling calls, managing network errors, dealing with different time zones, managing various communication tools, and a lot more.

The only way to rectify this problem is to build projects around self-motivated individuals and trust them to get the job done. Then, at regular intervals, analyze teams’ efforts and find the ways to make your team more effective, then adjust and tune their behavior accordingly.

3. Managing Security Breaches

Viruses and malware are becoming more and more dangerous, making it extremely difficult for developers to protect data. In addition, flaws in code can make the application vulnerable to attack resulting in security breaches. Some of the recent examples of security breaches are:

• Alibaba saw a major security breach in November 2019 which affected nearly 1.1 billion pieces of user data.
• Yahoo – Nearly 3 billion user accounts were compromised in 2013 the network was hacked.
• eBay saw a significant security breach in 2014 in which many customers’ passwords were leaked.  
• Facebook in 2019 internal software flaws led to the loss of 29 million users’ personal data.  

To overcome this, software developers need to keep themselves updated with the latest security check-ins. Further, developers can ensure that they meet their production goals without sacrificing security by using the Agile software development process, which includes using automated security. In addition, developers should conduct regular manual tests to catch the vulnerabilities and security weaknesses not detected by automated tests.

4. Error Rectification is a Challenging Task

Errors are just unavoidable in software development. No code is perfectly compiled in the first go. The code compiled in a testing environment may not be able to compile on other platforms. Sometimes quick fixes can turn to endless nights. To overcome this issue, the testing needs to be done with utmost efficiency. Every line of code must be tested with possible test cases and on different infrastructures.  

The agile development methodology can also help to solve this problem. It is an iterative approach, where both development and testing activities are concurrent. Agile team tests alongside the software development team in order to ensure that the features are implemented during a particular iteration are done. After every iteration, the customer provides continuous feedback, which shortens the feedback response time, and thus, errors are fixed at the initial level.

5. Developers are Often Expected to Know Everything

You may think that you are just a Software developer, but for others, you are Omniscient. You are expected to know everything as old as Windows MS-DOS  to as new as Windows 10. Software development is a vast field and inculcating all the skills is just next to impossible. At times you will be assigned a task without proper guidance. To overcome this obstacle, you need to find a mentor who is more experienced in that particular domain. You can also collaborate with your teammate to rectify this problem. Online learning and collaboration can also be of great help. When everything else fails, Google it!

6. Continuously Changing Demands

User preferences are changing rapidly, and keeping up with them is more complex than ever. Updating new services, managing continuous deployment cycles, unexpected defects, and the latest security check-ins can be troublesome. Let us understand this with the help of an example: earlier, only computers were used to view websites. Since the 1990’s we have seen the rise in popularity of smaller laptop screens, mobile phones with touch screens, tablets, and now large screen phones. As a result, the web industry has to optimize existing websites for mobile screens. Similarly, the demands are rapidly changing, and developers need to keep up with these demands.

To overcome this challenge, software developers need to learn and adapt constantly. Therefore learn from your mistakes and experience to ace in the software development domain.

7. Time Management is Difficult

As a software developer, you have to manage:

• Strict deadlines
• Latest technology demands
• Rapidly changing user inputs
• Multiple projects
• Deployment cycles

And a lot more. There are times when major fixes and deployment cycles can take considerable time. Moreover, managing rapidly changing inputs and user demands can even make the situation more challenging. Work slowly, and you won’t be able to meet the deadline; work faster, and you will end up with countless bugs. Hence, managing your time is the most crucial skill that you need to learn as a software developer.

You can start with making a priority list keeping the tasks from most important to least important in order. Also, track the amount of time you spend on different tasks. Once you are aware of this, see what tasks you can cut out or distribute to others. You can also practice agile methodologies as it helps teams deliver value to their customers faster and hassle-free. Instead of betting everything on a “big bang” launch, you can deliver work in small increments. Requirements and results are evaluated continuously, so teams have a natural mechanism for responding to change quickly.

Conclusion: Software development is a challenging field, but you will be able to learn and evolve continuously. It is a booming industry and offers a career path with endless progression, opportunities. The constant change in software development is a fantastic learning opportunity, keeping your mind fresh and the job interesting. Every day will hold something challenging, and solving that will be like unfolding a mystery. The most important thing you need to do is believe in yourself and overcome your fear of failure. So trust your skills, be confident, collaborate with others, enhance your efforts, and excel in the field of software development.