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The differences between developer support engineers 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 support engineer and a contract developer. Additionally, a developer support engineer has an average salary of $111,050, which is higher than the $91,433 average annual salary of a contract developer.
The top three skills for a developer support engineer include java, C++ and python. The most important skills for a contract developer are C++, javascript, and java.
| Developer Support Engineer | Contract Developer | |
| Yearly salary | $111,050 | $91,433 |
| Hourly rate | $53.39 | $43.96 |
| Growth rate | 21% | 21% |
| Number of jobs | 393,440 | 249,808 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 69% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Average age | 39 | 39 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
In the information technology industry, a developer support engineer focuses on assisting developers by designing and solutions according to the projects' needs. Their responsibilities often include developing software and hardware, installing and configuring systems, creating test structures, reviewing specifications, gathering and analyzing data to identify the strengths and weaknesses of current processes, and implementing solutions against problem areas. Moreover, a developer support engineer must maintain an active communication line with development teams for a smooth and efficient workflow.
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.
Developer support engineers and contract developers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Developer Support Engineer | Contract Developer | |
| Average salary | $111,050 | $91,433 |
| Salary range | Between $84,000 And $145,000 | Between $67,000 And $123,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Oregon | California |
| Best paying company | Meta | Avanade |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Finance |
There are a few differences between a developer support engineer and a contract developer in terms of educational background:
| Developer Support Engineer | Contract Developer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 69% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Computer Science |
| Most common college | California State University - Long Beach | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Here are the differences between developer support engineers' and contract developers' demographics:
| Developer Support Engineer | Contract Developer | |
| Average age | 39 | 39 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 76.8% Female, 23.2% | Male, 71.5% Female, 28.5% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 4.3% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 8.1% Asian, 30.0% White, 52.7% 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% |