7 Must-have Skills of a Magento Developer

by JONATHAN PAUL Jonathan Paul working at PHPProgrammers, a leading

If you want to give a competitive edge to your e-store, you need to find a skilled and proficient Magento developer for your project. Here are the skills you should look for in the developer before hiring.

Magento is a powerful eCommerce development platform that powers over 34% of the eCommerce websites on the internet today. Magento 2, the latest version of the platform comes with features and functionalities that help to effortlessly build a modern eCommerce website. Magento 2 comes with a myriad of extensions and themes that make the website designing and development process simpler and more efficient. It also allows easy and quick integration of third-party tools and APIs during eCommerce website development.

But, to give a competitive edge to an eCommerce site, the Magento developer needs to make the best use of the platform and its features, themes and extensions. And for this, the developer should possess some essential skills and abilities discussed in this article.

You must hire a developer who not only possesses the technical skills required for Magento development but also has soft skills like excellent communication, time management skills, problem-solving skills, etc.

Let's check out the technical skills needed for efficient Magento development here.

Knowledge of programming languages:

The most essential technical skill a Magento programmer should be proficient in is PHP as Magento is based on PHP as the programming language. However, the developer should also have expertise in using other languages like JavaScript, CSS, and HTML. Other than these languages, the technical skill set of a Magento programmer should include,

Experience in the MVC architecture
Modular development
Knowledge of XML for module configuration
MySQL for seamless interaction with the data and efficient database management
Knowledge of object-oriented programming or OOP.

Apart from these, look for Magento programmers with a certain level of design experience. The developer should have experience in working with CSS preprocessors like Stylus and SaSS. Significant experience in SEO, knowledge of Bootstrap, Gulp, Grunt, and jQuery and the ability to create responsive websites can be a plus when it comes to hiring a skilled Magento programmer.

Working with Magento themes, extensions, and modules:

Magento comes with plenty of in-built extensions, themes, and modules that make the development process even simpler and faster. The developer you are choosing must know about the available themes, modules, and extensions of Magento 2 and should be able to use the right ones as per the project requirements. The developer should also have the ability to create custom Magento themes.

Clean coding and testing skills:

Maintaining the code standard is important no matter which platform or language the developer is using. Writing clean and well-organised code is a quality of a good developer. With many Magento professionals working on the same project, it is very likely that one member of the team may get lost trying to find a part of the code or a line of the code. This problem can be solved by writing clean, uncluttered, and organised code.

Also, to ensure enhanced website performance, testing it repeatedly on different browsers and screens is extremely important to ensure it is working flawlessly on all. Make sure the developer has the ability to test a Magento store on advanced testing tools and GitHub. Hire the developers who have experience in this field and know the best practices for testing a Magento store.

Now, let's come to the must-have soft skills of a Magento developer.

Apart from the technical skills, an ideal developer should also possess some soft skills, some of which are listed here.

Problem-solving skills:

A good developer should be a good problem-solver and must be able to solve the complexities that may arise during the development process. This will make the entire workflow smoother and hassle-free, ensuring a flawless result at the end.

Excellent communication skills are important:

Proper communication is very important between the clients and the developers especially if the client has hired an offshore Magento development team. The developers must understand the language of the client to have a clear idea of the project requirements. Apart from this, the developer should have a practice of regularly giving the project updates and progress status of the project to the clients. In any ways, both the client and the developers should be able to reach one another at any time whenever required. This also ensures to make the development process smooth and efficient.

Teamwork:

Teamwork is another essential quality you must look for in the developer before hiring. Working together with the other team members can ensure timely project completion and of course, high-quality development as teamwork involves the qualities and development capabilities of all the team members. But again, make sure all the team members have expertise in Magento.

Though with innumerable Magento programmers around, it can be a little difficult for you to find the right developer, but considering the points shared in this article can help you to a great extent to find the best Magento programmer for your project.

Jonathan Paul is a highly proficient and certified Magento developer associated with a leading Magento development company in Australia, PHPProgrammers. The author has written this article to let you know the skills to look for in a Magento programmer before hiring for your eCommerce project.