Top Skills Required for Python Developers

Python developers are in high demand - not only because the language is so popular and widely used but mostly due to the fact that Python became a solution in many different areas.

Over the past few years, Python became one of the most preferred programming languages for a myriad of tasks, from web applications to data science and machine learning. However, it is not enough to just learn Python to master it.

Once you have expertise in core python programming you should direct your focus towards getting a solid grasp of various foundational concepts such as Variables & Data Types, Data Structure, Exception Handling, Object-Oriented Programming, and more. But that’s just the beginning of your programming skills.

In this article, we’ll talk about the hard and soft skills that will help you become a great Python Developer.

Hard Skills Required for Python Developers

Hard skills are abilities that let you tackle job-specific duties and responsibilities. These skills can be learned through courses, or while doing the job.

1. Frameworks

Knowing Python frameworks is a must, however, it doesn’t mean that a Python developer has to know them all. Depending on the project you may be asked to know one or another. There are several Python frameworks you can pick from, such as Django, Flask, Web2Py, Bottle, to name a few.

Flask and Django are the most popular Python web framework, and a developer should have an excellent grasp of either of these web frameworks. Django encourages a practical, clean, and functional design and also a high-level Python Web Framework. Knowledge of JavaScript, CSS, and HTML is also beneficial to become a Good Python Developer.

2. Object Relational Mappers

An object-oriented Programming language is used for the conversion of data between two systems that are incompatible, and that technique is called Object Relational Mapper (ORM).

From any programming language, a virtual object database is created by Object Relational Mappers. Programmers also use many customizable ORM tools.

3. Version Control

Keeping track of every change made to the file to later on source the code is a must-know for each developer! In most of the job offers you can see this as a requirement - thankfully it is not difficult to get familiar with and if you have been coding for a while, you have properly set your GitHub and terms like "push, fork, pull, commit" are not random words for you.

4. Front End Technology

A Python developer often has to work with front-end technologies to ensure that the client-side matches the server-side. In a corporate environment, this would often involve the UI/UX team, Project Managers, and SCRUM Masters for better coordination of the workflow. Working on the front-end gives you a clear picture of both the appearance and working of the application.

5. Python Libraries

One of the best things about Python is that it has one of the largest collections of libraries out there.

According to the Python Package Index, Python has over 267 thousand projects. There is a very high chance that whatever you’re planning to create has already been created and is readily available for use, with sufficient documentation.

A smart Python developer must be skilled enough to find, study, and properly implement packages provided by the Python ecosystem as you’ll be using them almost every day.

6. Machine Learning and AI

As ML and AI are both highly in-demand technologies, a Python developer should dive into their foundational concepts and algorithms to get a clear understanding.

Proficiency in Data Science will also prove crucial while working with projects dealing with large amounts of data. Once you upskill yourself to acquire, analyze, visualize and predict information from the data, you’ll find no trouble in painting a clear picture to your stakeholders from your observations with any accompanying outliers.

Soft Skills Required for Python Developers

Soft skills are the skills that enable you to fit in at a workplace. They include your personality, attitude, flexibility, motivation, and manners. Soft skills are so important that they are often the reason employers decide whether to keep or promote an employee.

1. Analytical Thinking

Programming can often be a challenging task sometimes, but if you lack analytical skills it may become a nightmare.

Any developer working with any programming language should have strong analytical skills with a good understanding of the algorithms that drive things.

Analytical skills may need a good understanding of building useful websites for web development, visualizing datasets for Data Science in a better way, optimization of algorithms while coding, writing clean code which is not redundant, etc.

2. Design Skills

By design skills, we refer to designing highly scalable systems. Businesses today thrive on efficiently designed systems and solutions that can be used by everyone with as little downtime as possible.

A good developer should have a good understanding of designs which will be helpful while designing scalable products. Servers should be implemented to make them highly available. A python developer can use any python framework like Flask or Django to create a website. In this way, Python will be able to work at both server-side and client-side programming.

3. Logical Thinking

In any case, the Python developer is required to think logically and the ability of good logical thinking should be the second nature of a developer to become a good developer in the python programming language.

4. Communication

Good communication skills are a must-have for not just a Python developer but for everyone in a professional or personal environment. A person with good communication skills leaves no gaps or confusion while communicating with others and delivers his/her message crystal clear.

How to become a great Python developer

Anyone can learn to write code but what gives you an upper hand over the competition are the approaches you take, your code’s efficiency, your expertise with the various packages and tools.

In programming, you can always learn more, thus gaining additional skills and this is what makes a developer’s career path so challenging and interesting. An experienced developer who possesses the skills mentioned in this article will surely stand out from the rest. Not only will these skills help you improve as a Python developer, but they can also potentially help you land a better job.