Find someone to build your app
Are you looking to build your own application or maybe you just want to see if it is even a good idea? Who can build an app for your business, lets talk about some options. In searching, you will some terms in the industry between a programmer, developer, full stack, and an engineer. We are not here to tell you who is better or what the best option is because every scenario and every application is very different. We want to help you find the right solution, that is why our consulting is so highly recommended. Although this may upset some people, we all know it to be true, one of the biggest problems through this process is some tech guys seem to speak another language. Don’t be afraid to ask for help until you do understand.
One way to have an application built is putting your own team together and manage the project on your own. We would recommend if you want to build this way you work with someone experienced or get a project map to follow. Additionally, a consultant can help you at different input levels so you are comfortable and informed In a balanced way.
The other way of building an application is hiring a company or a full stack / engineer. Tasking this approach, the full stack developer or engineer will have knowledge in the full scope of the project. With hiring someone that knows the full stack, they will manage the project if there are additional people or equipment required. This person will be involved or fully responsible for every part of the software development life cycle.
A programmer will often know a set of languages and they can build applications or pages in that language. Most programmers work in front end languages building web pages or application screens with styles, colors, and effects. We refer to the ”front end” as the page that you see as a user of the application. The back end in programming is the functionality and the data that is behind the scene you can not see. A developer, like a programmer, will also know a set of languages but more often the back end languages.
A full stack developer or a software engineer can build a full application from start to finish. An application has a five major sections, each of which can be a specialized job for a single person. A full stack developer has knowledge in each of the phases, otherwise a team will have a single person or team for each phase.
Design
Database
Front end development
Back end development
Testing
While you are looking for someone to build your application you will want to reasonably understand each of the phases to building your application. Software can be extremely difficult to predict or estimate timelines because of the custom nature, working through testing, errors, and security among many other factors are unpredictable. Understanding the process and flow will allow you to communicate with the developers or consultant and follow along throughout the process. Now that you understand the process you will go through, you can understand better how to select or search for someone to build your application. As it is in every industry you will find a huge range of prices that developers charge, anywhere from $15-$300 per hour is common. A higher priced developer will most of the time have more experience and program faster, you will save time and spend more for that time. A newer developer will almost always have a lower rate and they will have a longer development time. Find a balance between the two that works for your project, everyone has a different priority and one flavor does not work for everyone just as one app does not work for everything.
