OT: Wanted: Android App Developer $??? Reward ...

[Paul Mooring]

This is a probably a longer and more involved conversation than you think.
There's a few primary factors in supply and demand for app developers:

1. Native vs HTML

  There's a huge difference in the available supply of developers and
companies currently equipped to make an html5 site that plays nice with
both ios and android.  I think we're likely to see a proliferation of tools
like phonegap (http://phonegap.com/) and a slow down of native apps as html
apps eat that market share.  When you consider currently ios requires
objective-C and android Java, you have 2 languages with different tool
chains and a more involved development and release process competing
against a very well understood and super fast html/javascript ecosystem.
In my opinion html/js will eat the mobile dev community as quickly and
dominantly as it did for native Windows/OSX applications.

2. Expanding platforms

  Currently ios and android own the market, but with microsoft, mozilla,
ubuntu, etc. all getting into the mobile os game it's conceivable that the
overall market could keep growing without making android/java skills a
"must have".

3. Better native app tooling

  Writing full featured web applications 10 years ago was really hard.
Rails, Django, Laravel, etc. along with REST APIs and json revolutionized
how we build web services making it a whole lot easier.  Then much more
recently jquery followed by a million javascript frameworks did the same
for front ends.  If native android development keeps growing similar
tooling is sure to be built to drastically reduce the entrance barrier.

Overall I think it will become easier/cheaper/faster to build mobile apps,
but I sort of doubt that will manifest itself in the form of most
developers learning and rallying around Java and the Android API.


On Sun, Aug 3, 2014 at 4:35 PM, <techlists at phpcoderusa.com> wrote:

> Hi Paul,
>
> One would think that Andriod programming is going to be with us for
> year... decade at least.  However that begs the question, what do you (or
> anyone else) think the long term demand will be?  Increasing or decreasing?
>
> Is there any barriers to entry like a nasty learning curve?  Specialized
> hardware?  ETC...
>
> I think I looked at the SDK about a year ago and as I recall it looked to
> be Java based and then I think I was told of a C++ SDK.  IIRC - I think it
> was something that looked to take a little effort to learn but not too bad.
>
> I think i recall something about using JavaScript.....?
>
> Thanks!
> Keith
>
>
>
> On 2014-08-03 16:09, Paul Mooring wrote:
>
>> Not to discourage you from trying to make this happen, but a bit of
>> perspective might help.  Currently android/java developers are in
>> great demand, where I live the average salary is around $110,000/yr or
>> roughly $2100/week.  Having done a bit of contract/outsourcing work
>> myself, I can tell you the experienced contractors/developers intended
>> to lose as much as a weeks time on any project just trying to
>> understand what needs to happen and working with the stake holders to
>> make changes along the lines of "one more simple thing".  The take
>> away is there's going to be a minimum price/complexity to justify
>> taking on a project for a skilled/competent developer and if your app
>> doesn't meet that benchmark you're going to have  hard time finding a
>> U.S. based competent developer interested in it.
>>
>> This doesn't mean it's a bad idea or you shouldn't do it, just keep in
>> mind that while you may be really passionate about your idea to
>> developers it's one of many offers to work on a contract for an
>> individual  offering below market rates.  That's a great fit for
>> contractors in India, students or a dev trying to expand her skill set
>> (web dev still learning mobile apps, etc.) but not so appealing to
>> established professionals.
>>
>> On Sun, Aug 3, 2014 at 10:04 AM, <joe at actionline.com> wrote:
>>
>>  Wanted: Android App Developer $??? Reward ...
>>>
>>> How can I find a skilled/competent/reasonably priced Android App
>>> Developer ... preferrably Arizona local or at least in the U.S.?
>>>
>>> I've tried elance.com [1] and odesk.com [2] and several similar
>>>
>>> sites, without
>>> success. Mostly get proposals from India and Pakistan, etc.
>>>
>>> I'm willing to pay up to $1,000 (perhaps more) to get the results
>>> we need
>>> for an app to read, scroll, flip pages, and search within a book.
>>> Should
>>> be relatively simple and straight-forward.  Need to be able to add
>>> to the
>>> content and submit updates to the Google playstore myself.
>>>
>>> See my first-attempt (which does not yet work as well as we need it
>>> to)
>>> here:
>>>
>>>
>>>  https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.
>> CompareBibleVersionsPackage
>>
>>> [3]
>>>
>>> Please respond either here or off-line to joe(at)actionline.com [4]
>>>
>>>
>>> ---------------------------------------------------
>>> PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss at lists.phxlinux.org
>>> To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings:
>>> http://lists.phxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss [5]
>>>
>>
>> --
>>
>> Paul Mooring
>> Operations Engineer
>> Chef
>>
>> Links:
>> ------
>> [1] http://elance.com
>> [2] http://odesk.com
>> [3]
>> https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.
>> CompareBibleVersionsPackage
>> [4] http://actionline.com
>> [5] http://lists.phxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss
>>
>>
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>


-- 
Paul Mooring
Operations Engineer
Chef
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