# Software Developers

> Research, design, and develop computer and network software or specialized utility programs. Analyze user needs and develop software solutions, applying principles and techniques of computer science, engineering, and mathematical analysis. Update software or enhance existing software capabilities. May work with computer hardware engineers to integrate hardware and software systems, and develop specifications and performance requirements. May maintain databases within an application area, working individually or coordinating database development as part of a team.

- **SOC code:** 15-1252.00
- **Canonical URL:** https://singulariki.com/roles/role-15-1252-00
- **Also known as:** Developer, Software Architect, Software Developer, Software Engineer, Application Developer, Application Integration Engineer, DevOps Engineer (Development Operations Engineer), Infrastructure Engineer
- **Frame:** "AI exposure" means task overlap (how codifiable the work is), not jobs lost or a forecast. Every figure below is traced to a named public dataset.

## What this work is

**Core tasks** (O*NET):
- Monitor functioning of equipment to ensure system operates in conformance with specifications.
- Analyze user needs and software requirements to determine feasibility of design within time and cost constraints.
- Develop or direct software system testing or validation procedures, programming, or documentation.
- Confer with systems analysts, engineers, programmers and others to design systems and to obtain information on project limitations and capabilities, performance requirements and interfaces.
- Coordinate installation of software system.
- Modify existing software to correct errors, adapt it to new hardware, or upgrade interfaces and improve performance.
- Prepare reports or correspondence concerning project specifications, activities, or status.
- Analyze information to determine, recommend, and plan installation of a new system or modification of an existing system.
- Store, retrieve, and manipulate data for analysis of system capabilities and requirements.
- Design, develop and modify software systems, using scientific analysis and mathematical models to predict and measure outcomes and consequences of design.
- Determine system performance standards.
- Supervise the work of programmers, technologists and technicians and other engineering and scientific personnel.

## Skills, tools, capabilities

**Knowledge, skills & abilities** (O*NET, highest importance first):
- Computers and Electronics _(knowledge)_
- Programming _(transferable_skill)_
- Critical Thinking _(essential_skill)_
- Oral Comprehension _(ability)_
- Written Comprehension _(ability)_
- Oral Expression _(ability)_
- Problem Sensitivity _(ability)_
- Deductive Reasoning _(ability)_
- Near Vision _(ability)_
- Judgment and Decision Making _(transferable_skill)_
- Information Ordering _(ability)_
- Mathematics _(knowledge)_

**Skills in demand:**
- Critical Thinking _(Common Skill)_
- Deductive Reasoning _(Common Skill)_
- Information Ordering _(Specialized Skill)_
- Mathematics _(Common Skill)_
- TypeScript _(Specialized Skill)_
- Systems Analysis _(Specialized Skill)_
- Spring Framework _(Specialized Skill)_
- Spring Boot _(Specialized Skill)_
- Reading Comprehension _(Common Skill)_
- PostgreSQL _(Specialized Skill)_
- Node.js _(Specialized Skill)_
- NoSQL _(Specialized Skill)_

**Tools & technology:**
- Amazon Web Services AWS software _(hot technology, in demand)_
- Apache Kafka _(hot technology, in demand)_
- Atlassian JIRA _(hot technology, in demand)_
- C _(hot technology, in demand)_
- C# _(hot technology, in demand)_
- C++ _(hot technology, in demand)_
- Cascading style sheets CSS _(hot technology, in demand)_
- Docker _(hot technology, in demand)_
- Git _(hot technology, in demand)_
- GitHub _(hot technology, in demand)_
- Go _(hot technology, in demand)_
- Google Angular _(hot technology, in demand)_

## AI exposure & outlook

- **AI task-overlap index:** 91st percentile (High) across all occupations — composite of current-era exposure studies (ai-exposure-index-v1).
- **LLM task exposure, γ (OpenAI / Eloundou):** 85th percentile (High) — source: eloundou_gamma.
- **AI assistant applicability (Microsoft):** 85th percentile (High) — source: microsoft_applicability.
- **Projected employment (BLS 2024–34):** 15.8% growth (Growing fast); 115.2k annual openings; 1,693.8k → 1,961.4k jobs.
- **Pay & employment (BLS OEWS, May 2024):** median $133,080; 1,654,440 employed.

## Sources

- **O*NET** (30.3) — U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)** (May 2024) — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS Employment Projections** (2024–2034) — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **Anthropic Economic Index** (v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27)) — Anthropic. https://www.anthropic.com/economic-index
- **Microsoft “Working with AI”** (working-with-ai) — Microsoft Research. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/
- **“GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.)** (arXiv 2303.10130) — OpenAI / academic. https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.10130

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_Generated from Singulariki's joined dataset; data snapshot 2026-06-02T21:00:32.945303+00:00. https://singulariki.com/roles/role-15-1252-00_