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The differences between applications developers and contract developers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both an applications developer and a contract developer. Additionally, a contract developer has an average salary of $91,433, which is higher than the $89,205 average annual salary of an applications developer.
The top three skills for an applications developer include java, javascript and C++. The most important skills for a contract developer are C++, javascript, and java.
| Applications Developer | Contract Developer | |
| Yearly salary | $89,205 | $91,433 |
| Hourly rate | $42.89 | $43.96 |
| Growth rate | 21% | 21% |
| Number of jobs | 279,877 | 249,808 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 71% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Average age | 39 | 39 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
An application developer is responsible for creating program applications for devices based on clients' specifications and business needs. Application developers must have excellent knowledge of computer systems, as well as a strong command of programming languages to develop customized programs. Duties of an application developer also include running diagnostic tests to ensure the application's performance and stability, providing instruction manuals for reference, performing troubleshooting for any inconsistencies, upgrading design codes for optimization, and launching the application following the client's timetable.
Contract Developers develop secure web applications for data collections, quality measurement efforts, and reporting purposes for large-scale performance, wireframes and UI specifications for interactive and static reporting and analysis features, and developing UI to interact with reporting engines. They are involved with system design and technical documentation and responsible for dot net development. In this position, contract developers must excellent in problem-solving, analytical skills and attention to detail, display and manipulate performance metrics, and highly confident dealing with internal and external clients.
Applications developers and contract developers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Applications Developer | Contract Developer | |
| Average salary | $89,205 | $91,433 |
| Salary range | Between $67,000 And $118,000 | Between $67,000 And $123,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | California |
| Best paying company | Meta | Avanade |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Finance |
There are a few differences between an applications developer and a contract developer in terms of educational background:
| Applications Developer | Contract Developer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 71% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Here are the differences between applications developers' and contract developers' demographics:
| Applications Developer | Contract Developer | |
| Average age | 39 | 39 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 77.0% Female, 23.0% | Male, 71.5% Female, 28.5% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 4.4% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 8.2% Asian, 29.9% White, 52.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 4.4% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 8.1% Asian, 27.8% White, 54.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 8% | 8% |