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The differences between 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 a developer and a contract developer. Additionally, a developer has an average salary of $100,076, which is higher than the $91,433 average annual salary of a contract developer.
The top three skills for a developer include javascript, python and java. The most important skills for a contract developer are C++, javascript, and java.
| Developer | Contract Developer | |
| Yearly salary | $100,076 | $91,433 |
| Hourly rate | $48.11 | $43.96 |
| Growth rate | 21% | 21% |
| Number of jobs | 262,570 | 249,808 |
| Job satisfaction | 5 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 71% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Average age | 39 | 39 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
Developers are usually system or application developers in a company who work on specific projects related to networks or applications from conception to implementation. They attend planning sessions to ensure that the program is feasible. They are responsible for designing the system through coding and basic user interface design. They also work on troubleshooting any challenges that may be met at the testing stage of the program's development. They solve challenges and ensure that minimal problems will arise upon publishing the system or application. They also manage the evaluation to ensure that the program's goals are accomplished and that the end-users are satisfied with the results.
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.
Developers and contract developers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Developer | Contract Developer | |
| Average salary | $100,076 | $91,433 |
| Salary range | Between $76,000 And $131,000 | Between $67,000 And $123,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | California |
| Best paying company | - | Avanade |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Finance |
There are a few differences between a developer and a contract developer in terms of educational background:
| 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 developers' and contract developers' demographics:
| Developer | Contract Developer | |
| Average age | 39 | 39 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 74.9% Female, 25.1% | Male, 71.5% Female, 28.5% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 4.6% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 8.4% Asian, 29.8% White, 52.2% 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% |