Sang Chandara, 31, works as senior android application developer for Cambodian ICT company Golden Gekko. Chandara’s main task is supervising development projects. “I have to lead my team as well as guide junior developers and newcomers. I also have to set schedules and deadlines so the applications that our clients ask us to develop can be released on time.”

Before reaching the high level of responsibility of being Golden Gekko’s senior mobile app developer in 2010, Chandara collected experience in website maintenance and learned PHP and JSP development.

Based on his job experience, Chandra says IT a student should focus on gaining professional programming skills if he or she is interested in app development. He says: “When I was in my second year of university, I realised I loved programming, and I tried to look for subjects that are related to that.”

Chandara adds that efficient coding is the most important skill in mobile application development because of the limited memory of mobile devices. “A mobile device has a very small capacity disk, so you have to be careful while coding, especially when it is related to the memory.”

Chandara can only advise IT students who want to be mobile application developers to focus on one specific skill in programming and the mobile operating system he or she is interested in. “If you try to learn everything, what you learn is quite confusing,” Chandara says.

Aside from the intense focus, however, Chandara reminds people not to become nerds without communication skills, because app development requires teamwork. “Besides sitting in the office and writing code all day long, a programmer needs to communicate and coordinate with coworkers and clients all the time.”