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The differences between principal 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 principal developer and a contract developer. Additionally, a principal developer has an average salary of $126,772, which is higher than the $91,433 average annual salary of a contract developer.
The top three skills for a principal developer include java, apis and architecture. The most important skills for a contract developer are C++, javascript, and java.
| Principal Developer | Contract Developer | |
| Yearly salary | $126,772 | $91,433 |
| Hourly rate | $60.95 | $43.96 |
| Growth rate | 21% | 21% |
| Number of jobs | 303,930 | 249,808 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 70% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Average age | 39 | 39 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
In the information technology industry, a principal developer is in charge of spearheading software and application development projects. It is their duty to perform extensive research and analysis, set objectives and guidelines, establish budgets and timelines, lead the planning and implementation stages, and develop strategies to optimize operations. They must also maintain an active communication line with staff to resolve issues should any arise. Moreover, as a principal developer, they must monitor the projects' workflow to ensure that everything runs smoothly and efficiently.
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.
Principal developers and contract developers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Principal Developer | Contract Developer | |
| Average salary | $126,772 | $91,433 |
| Salary range | Between $96,000 And $166,000 | Between $67,000 And $123,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | California |
| Best paying company | Avanade | |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Finance |
There are a few differences between a principal developer and a contract developer in terms of educational background:
| Principal Developer | Contract Developer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 70% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Here are the differences between principal developers' and contract developers' demographics:
| Principal Developer | Contract Developer | |
| Average age | 39 | 39 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 80.3% Female, 19.7% | 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% |