Desktop application developers are responsible for creating software that run on desktop operating systems (OS) such as Windows, macOS, and Linux. (These are the three main desktop OSes.) Their work involves designing, developing, testing, and maintaining applications that offer a user-friendly interface and perform specific tasks.
That software may focus on being completely self-contained, and not needing to talk to other applications or computers – think of something like Microsoft Word. Or that software might speak to one or more computers to share information – think of a multiplayer game which sends location information, status updates, and even voice information over the internet to a group of people playing the game.
Of course, networked applications can be for serious business -like with Microsoft Teams, as well as fun and games, and not all games need networked support.
Depending upon what type of application you are creating the skills of a desktop developer will vary. However, it is not uncommon to see them using the following skills and knowledge centers:
- Programming Languages: Proficiency in programming languages like C++, C#, Java, Python, or other relevant languages used for desktop application development. Which language you use, is often based upon what your application needs to do.
- UI/UX Design: Understand user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) design principles to create visually appealing and user-friendly desktop applications.
- Operating Systems: Familiarity with the target desktop operating systems and their specific requirements, APIs, and development environments.
- Version Control: Use version control systems (e.g., Git or TFP – Team Foundation Server – now called Azure DevOps Server) to track changes in source code, collaborate with team members, and manage code repositories.
- Integrated Development Environments (IDEs): Work with development tools and IDEs (e.g., Visual Studio, Xcode, JetBrains IDEs) for coding, debugging, and testing desktop applications. Often which IDE you use will depend upon which language(s) you are developing in. Here, we use Visual Studio and Visual Studio Code as they both support multiple languages, and all the popular languages you would normally find in a development environment.
- GUI Frameworks: Utilize graphical user interface (GUI) frameworks and libraries to build the application’s frontend. For instance, Windows Forms or WPF for Windows, AppKit or SwiftUI for macOS, and GTK or Qt for Linux.
- Database Management: Understand how to integrate and interact with databases to store and retrieve data, using technologies like SQL or NoSQL databases. This includes needing to potentially know how to write SQL statements, although this is not always true, and often depends upon your organization as to if it is sub-divided into those areas or not.
- Multithreading and Concurrency: Address issues related to parallel processing and thread management to enhance application performance.
- Error Handling and Debugging: Implement robust error handling and debugging techniques to identify and resolve issues in the code. As users become more sophisticated, and less technical, they are less likely to tolerate bugs and software crashes.
- Testing and Quality Assurance: Perform unit testing, integration testing, and quality assurance to ensure the application functions correctly and is free of bugs.
- Security Considerations: Be aware of security best practices to protect the application and user data from vulnerabilities and threats. Implement encryption and secure authentication mechanisms.
- Documentation: Maintain documentation for code, design decisions, and user manuals to assist both developers and end-users.
- Accessibility: Consider accessibility features to ensure that the application is usable by individuals with disabilities. This is a part of the UI/UX, and should be done early on in the process, not “Added on” at the end, as it is more time consuming and expensive to add it on later.
Continuing Education
As with anyone who works with computers, Software Developers of all types must be willing to learn. New languages, libraries, and processes are always being developed, so a developer must be willing to always be learning.
In my career, I have seen languages be “born” and “die” and are no longer supported. Several languages I am professionally experienced in were not around when I was in school, or were just becoming known. Others were around, but not popular yet for one reason or another. (Ruby is an example where it is said to have found overnight success after lurking in the shadows for nearly 16 years.)
Desktop Developer was originally found on Access 2 Learn
