software-developer/references/skills.md

Competences — software developer

Source: ESCO v1.2.1 occupation-skill relations (http://data.europa.eu/esco/occupation/f2b15a0e-e65a-438a-affb-29b9d50b77d1).

Essential

• analyse software specifications (skill/competence)
• computer programming (knowledge)
• create flowchart diagram (skill/competence)
• debug software (skill/competence)
• define technical requirements (skill/competence)
• develop automated migration methods (skill/competence)
• develop software prototype (skill/competence)
• engineering principles (knowledge)
• engineering processes (knowledge)
• ICT debugging tools (knowledge)
• identify customer requirements (skill/competence)
• integrated development environment software (knowledge)
• interpret technical requirements (skill/competence)
• manage engineering project (skill/competence)
• perform scientific research (skill/competence)
• project management (knowledge)
• technical drawings (knowledge)
• tools for software configuration management (knowledge)
• use an application-specific interface (skill/competence)
• use software design patterns (skill/competence)
• use software libraries (skill/competence)
• use technical drawing software (skill/competence)
• utilise computer-aided software engineering tools (skill/competence)
• web services (knowledge)

Optional

• ABAP (knowledge)
• adapt to changes in technological development plans (skill/competence)
• AJAX (knowledge)
• Ajax Framework (knowledge)
• Ansible (knowledge)
• Apache Maven (knowledge)
• Apache Tomcat (knowledge)
• APL (knowledge)
• ASP.NET (knowledge)
• Assembly (computer programming) (knowledge)
• blockchain openness (knowledge)
• blockchain platforms (knowledge)
• C# (knowledge)
• C++ (knowledge)
• COBOL (knowledge)
• CoffeeScript (knowledge)
• collect customer feedback on applications (skill/competence)
• Common Lisp (knowledge)
• cyber attack counter-measures (knowledge)
• data visualisation software (knowledge)
• defence standard procedures (knowledge)
• design user interface (skill/competence)
• develop creative ideas (skill/competence)
• do cloud refactoring (skill/competence)
• Drupal (knowledge)
• Eclipse (integrated development environment software) (knowledge)
• Erlang (knowledge)
• Groovy (knowledge)
• Haskell (knowledge)
• IBM WebSphere (knowledge)
• ICT security legislation (knowledge)
• integrate system components (skill/competence)
• Internet of Things (knowledge)
• Java (computer programming) (knowledge)
• JavaScript (knowledge)
• JavaScript Framework (knowledge)
• Jenkins (tools for software configuration management) (knowledge)
• KDevelop (knowledge)
• Lisp (knowledge)
• MATLAB (knowledge)
• Microsoft Visual C++ (knowledge)
• migrate existing data (skill/competence)
• ML (computer programming) (knowledge)
• NoSQL (knowledge)
• Objective-C (knowledge)
• object-oriented modelling (knowledge)
• OpenEdge Advanced Business Language (knowledge)
• Oracle Application Development Framework (knowledge)
• Pascal (computer programming) (knowledge)
• Perl (knowledge)
• PHP (knowledge)
• Prolog (computer programming) (knowledge)
• Puppet (tools for software configuration management) (knowledge)
• Python (computer programming) (knowledge)
• R (knowledge)
• Ruby (computer programming) (knowledge)
• Salt (tools for software configuration management) (knowledge)
• SAP R3 (knowledge)
• SAS language (knowledge)
• Scala (knowledge)
• Scratch (computer programming) (knowledge)
• screen reader (knowledge)
• Smalltalk (computer programming) (knowledge)
• smart contract (knowledge)
• software anomalies (knowledge)
• software frameworks (knowledge)
• SPARK (knowledge)
• SQL (knowledge)
• STAF (knowledge)
• Swift (computer programming) (knowledge)
• trading software (knowledge)
• TypeScript (knowledge)
• use automatic programming (skill/competence)
• use concurrent programming (skill/competence)
• use functional programming (skill/competence)
• use logic programming (skill/competence)
• use object-oriented programming (skill/competence)
• use query languages (skill/competence)
• utilise machine learning (skill/competence)
• VBScript (knowledge)
• Visual Basic (knowledge)
• WordPress (knowledge)
• World Wide Web Consortium standards (knowledge)
• Xcode (knowledge)

Market evidence (job-ad analysis, 11 ads, as of 2026-07-19)

Share of analyzed job ads mentioning the item (threshold ≥ 20 %). Source: JSearch/Adzuna APIs.

Hard skills

• software development — 55 %
• api development — 27 %
• software design — 27 %
• microservices architecture — 18 %
• api design — 18 %
• data analysis — 18 %
• data engineering — 18 %
• system integration — 18 %
• troubleshooting — 18 %

Methods

• devsecops — 18 %
• agile development — 18 %
• ci/cd — 18 %
• infrastructure as code — 18 %