A J2EE Developer is a professional who specializes in developing enterprise-level applications using Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE) technologies. They are responsible for designing, developing, and deploying robust, scalable, and secure Java-based applications that meet the needs of organizations. In this blog post, we will describe the primary responsibilities and the most in-demand hard and soft skills for J2EE Developers.

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Main Responsibilities of a J2EE Developer

The following list describes the typical responsibilities of J2EE Developer:

Adhere to

Adhere to all enterprise standards as they relate to the proposed solution.

Analyze

Analyze and maintain existing software applications.

Automate

Automate manual release activities.

Build

• Build enhancements within existing tools / applications to optimize efficiency.

• Build integrated solutions across heterogeneous platforms.

• Build positive give and take relationships with stakeholders.

Collaborate with

• Collaborate with business analysts and stakeholders to gather system requirements.

• Collaborate with business, operations, and product partners throughout every phase of the SDLC.

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams, including developers, designers, and project managers.

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to estimate project timelines and deliverables.

• Collaborate with database administrators to design and optimize database schemas.

• Collaborate with external programmers to coordinate delivery of software application.

• Collaborate with services team for UI integration.

• Collaborate with system administrators to deploy applications to production environments.

• Collaborate with testing teams to identify formal errors.

Communicate

Communicate with the project team throughout all stages of design.

Complete

• Complete code development to ensure product releases general availability on time.

• Complete the project requirements checklist showing that all project tasks have been completed.

Conduct

• Conduct code reviews to maintain code quality and adherence to best practices.

• Conduct performance analysis and profiling of applications.

• Conduct research and prototyping to evaluate new technologies and frameworks.

Contribute to

• Contribute and participate in design and code reviews.

• Contribute to data and code integrity through the unit and integration testing.

• Contribute to story refinement / defining requirements through the delivery lifecycle.

Coordinate

Coordinate with project managers to prioritize tasks and meet project deadlines.

Create

Create technical specifications and documentation for developed applications.

Debug

Debug code to locate reported bugs and issues.

Define

• Define product internal / external interfaces.

• Define product level test and simulation strategy.

Design

• Design and develop API and microservices.

• Design Applications based on System Requirements.

• Design, code, test, and debug J2EE applications.

• Design / develops / maintains automated test suites (integration, regression, performance).

Develop

• Develop an architectural approach to meet key business objectives.

• Develop and implement J2EE applications based on business requirements.

• Develop and maintain technical documentation, including user guides and API documentation.

• Develop automated tests with the software you write.

• Develop automated UT plans.

• Develop backend processing jobs using Spring Batch and Java programs.

• Develop complex, multiple modules of code independently.

• Develop, design, code & manage the front-end and back-end using Java.

• Develop front end modules / customization work.

• Develop, maintain, and integrate coding for various client software systems and applications.

• Develop Soap and RESTful web services using JAXWS, JAXRS and Spring.

• Develop solutions for given use cases using appropriate and available technologies.

• Develop solutions for given use cases using appropriate technologies.

• Develop Subject Matter Expertise in the SAS Fraud Management implementation.

Distributed

Distributed system development and maintenance.

Drive

• Drive a best practices approach to the continuous improvement of our products, processes, and tools.

• Drive / collaborate with other technical leaders / software engineers on system / functional design.

• Drive new processes, guidelines, team rules, and best practices.

Engage

Engage with architecture team to clearly understand the system design and roadmap.

Ensure

• Ensure adherence to & reinforcement of delivery best practices.

• Ensure business engineering standards are applied by all parties involved in projects and deliveries.

• Ensure compliance with coding standards, architectural guidelines, and quality assurance processes.

• Ensure deliverables adhere to sound architectural best practices.

• Ensure design integrity and quality control consistency throughout a projects lifecycle.

• Ensure selected solutions are technically and operationally feasible.

• Ensure that software is developed to meet functional, non-functional, and compliance requirements.

• Ensure the scalability, performance, and security of applications.

Evaluate

Evaluate and recommend tools.

Execute

Execute department processes in a high-quality, efficient and team oriented manner.

Follow

• Follow established directions from Team Lead.

• Follow the defined PDLC process and participate in improving the process.

• Follow the Lean Agile software development process.

Guide

Guide / lead other developers offshore / onshore as part of Project deliverables in agile fashion.

Highlight

• Highlight risks and resolve issues.

• Highlight technical risks / areas of improvement and oversee team implementation as per design.

Identify

• Identify and propose technical solutions to meet business requirements.

• Identify application bottlenecks and opportunities to optimize performance.

• Identify solutions, present and work with project team / sponsors in identifying best solution.

Implement

• Implement and adhere to software development methodologies and standards.

• Implement security measures and best practices in application development.

• Implement version control and release management processes.

Integrate

Integrate J2EE applications with existing systems and third-party components.

Interface with

Interface with other functional groups.

Lead

• Lead API development following the right design patterns and best practices.

• Lead a team of 5-7 developers to design and develop scalable and resilient systems.

• Lead development of subsystems.

• Lead in the creation and maintenance of documentation related to solutions mentioned above.

• Lead, train, guide and mentor other developers on the team.

Make

Make design and technical decisions for AngularJS / ReactJS projects.

Manage

Manage to timelines and communicates project status.

Mentor

Mentor junior members of the team through design / code reviews.

Monitor

Monitor and troubleshoot production issues.

Optimize

Optimize application performance through performance tuning and code optimization.

Participate in

• Participate in all stages of SDLC process.

• Participate in all team agile-related activities.

• Participate in and work on all aspects of the technical design & specification phase of projects.

• Participate in initiatives to improve standard business engineering practice.Essential.

• Participate in production support / releases as required.

• Participate in requirement analysis and feasibility studies.

• Participate in Requirements Analysis.

• Participate in System Requirement Analysis.

• Participate in technical discussions and provide recommendations or solutions.

• Participate in the entire software development lifecycle, from concept and design to testing and deployment.

Perform

Perform unit testing and assist in integration and system testing.

Predict

Predict effects of configuration changes.

Present

• Present lessons learned report.

• Present project closure report to Freddie Mac for review and approval.

• Present written status at weekly meeting.

Promote

Promote top code quality and solve challenging issues related to performance tuning and scalability.

Provide

• Provide end to end detail design docs for medium to large complex projects.

• Provide Freddie Mac with all documentation in accordance with the approved project plan.

• Provide input to technical lead and architect on development solutions.

• Provide Level 3 support for application issues raised that need to be debugged at a code level.

• Provide resolutions to an assortment of technical problems.

• Provide resolutions to an assortment of technical problems- Understand Business Requirements.

• Provide technical and design documents.

• Provide technical direction and system architecture for individual initiatives.

• Provide technical support and guidance to junior developers.

Resolve

Resolve issues and contribute to the overall quality of product.

Set-up

Set-up and develop a continuous integration / continuous delivery pipeline.

Solve

Solve complex problems at the module level.

Stay updated with

Stay updated with emerging technologies and industry trends related to J2EE development.

Strive

Strive to constantly improve the application development processes and tools.

Support

• Support and enhance applications using Java / J2EE.

• Support End to End Technology for middleware programs and projects in a formal Scrum delivery model.

• Support one of Freddie Mac's core applications in providing Level 3 support.

• Support product quality and timeliness.

Take

Take ownership of the business outcome and development / delivery.

Translate

Translate UX and UI design to code.

Troubleshoot

Troubleshoot and resolve issues in deployed applications.

Understand

• Understand Business needs and processes.

• Understand data models and integrate with UI.

• Understand priorities and work accordingly.

• Understand the development, implementation, and use of predictive models and rules engines.

• Understand use cases and product requirements.

Utilize

Utilize analysis and diagramming tools to represent business processes.

Work with

• Work closely with business users and Development, Quality Assurance, and Infrastructure teams.

• Work closely with third party technology vendors.

• Work effectively with offshore developers.

• Work in an agile environment using SCRUM methods.

• Work on bug fixing and improving application performance.

• Work under minimal supervision, with general guidance from more seasoned consultants.

• Work underminimal supervision, with general guidance from more seasoned consultants.

• Work under normal ssupervision.

• Work with a small team of developers, potentially in different locations and time zones.

• Work with cross functional team to achieve project delivery goal.

• Work with Customers on successful Assurance deployments.

• Work with product teams on new product ideas and strategy.

Write

• Write functional and design specs independently.

• Write, maintain and improve automation scripts in Python.

• Write system functional specifications.

Most In-demand Hard Skills

The following list describes the most required technical skills of a J2EE Developer:

1. Proficiency in Java programming language.

2. In-depth knowledge of J2EE technologies, including Servlets, JSP, EJB, JMS, and JDBC.

3. Experience with Java frameworks, such as Spring and Hibernate.

4. Familiarity with web services and SOAP/REST protocols.

5. Understanding of MVC (Model-View-Controller) architecture.

6. Expertise in working with databases, including SQL queries and ORM frameworks like Hibernate.

7. Proficiency in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

8. Knowledge of front-end frameworks like Angular or React.

9. Experience with application servers like Apache Tomcat or JBoss.

10. Familiarity with build tools such as Maven or Gradle.

11. Understanding of software development methodologies, including Agile and Scrum.

12. Knowledge of version control systems like Git.

13. Familiarity with testing frameworks like JUnit and Mockito.

14. Experience with containerization technologies like Docker.

15. Understanding of cloud platforms such as AWS or Azure.

16. Proficiency in using IDEs like Eclipse or IntelliJ IDEA.

17. Knowledge of performance optimization techniques.

18. Experience with XML and related technologies (XML Schema, XSLT, etc.).

19. Understanding of web application security concepts and best practices.

20. Knowledge of design patterns and architectural principles.

Most In-demand Soft Skills

The following list describes the most required soft skills of a J2EE Developer:

1. Strong problem-solving and analytical skills.

2. Effective communication and collaboration skills.

3. Attention to detail and ability to follow coding standards.

4. Adaptability and willingness to learn new technologies.

5. Time management and ability to work on multiple projects simultaneously.

6. Team player mentality and ability to work well within a team.

7. Strong organizational skills and ability to prioritize tasks effectively.

8. Ability to work under pressure and meet project deadlines.

9. Excellent troubleshooting and debugging skills.

10. Commitment to producing high-quality, scalable, and maintainable code.

Conclusion

By acquiring these main responsibilities and developing the required hard and soft skills, J2EE Developers can excel in their roles and contribute to the successful development and deployment of enterprise-level applications. The evolving nature of technology makes it crucial for professionals in this field to stay updated with the latest advancements and continuously enhance their skills to meet the demands of the industry.