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Marcus Gonzalez
CST 300 Writing Lab
29 January 2019

Mobile Application Development

Software development is an industry that has grown exponentially with the introduction

of mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. In 2016, Software development had a

projected job growth of twenty-four percent by 2026 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2016).

Furthermore, within the field of software development, mobile applications have proven to be a

major source of revenue. According to App Annie (2019), mobile app revenues were just over 88

billion dollars in 2016, and are expected to grow to around 189 billion by 2020. With the

growing app market, more companies are likely to venture into the mobile market, like Google

did with its purchase of Android. While more software developers will be needed to build quality

applications, there are several paths to becoming a software developer. The most traditional is to

earn a bachelor’s degree in computer science before going on to work for companies like

Google, Microsoft, and Apple.

Microsoft, Google, and Apple are some of the largest corporations in the software

industry today. As of 2018, Apple is the largest tech company in the world with 265 billion

dollars in revenue in 2018 (Statista, 2018). The majority of Apple’s revenue can be attributed to

its mobile device, demonstrating the power of mobile sales in today’s economy. Microsoft is

another leader in the software industry, which is largely due to the company’s success with the

Windows operating system and software related to the platform. In addition, Microsoft has tried

to break into the mobile industry with the introduction of the Windows Mobile operating system,

which has now been declared dead (Haselton, 2019). With Apple being Google’s only viable
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competitor in the mobile market, they are fighting an uphill battle with the dominance of

Google’s Android operating system. According to Statista (2019), Android has been the most

popular mobile operating system since 2016. However, although the Android operating system

dominates the mobile market, application developers looking to monetize their products would

be better served on the Apple platform. According to (Macquarrie, 2018), app users with iPhones

are more likely to spend money than those on Android. The potential income from apps on

Apple’s iPhone versus those on Google’s playstore is certainly something for developers to take

into consideration.

Established in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google’s conception began under the

guise of “Backrub” in 1996. Their idea was to build a search engine that would aid in what

would eventually become Google’s mission to “organize the world’s information and make it

universally accessible and useful” (Google, n.d.). Larry and Sergey were successful in their

venture, branching out to 70 offices in 50 countries with over 88,000 employees (Statista, 2019).

Since its inception, Google has expanded to provide email, news, cloud services, the Android

mobile operating system, and many other products and services. Today, the Mountain View

based company’s search engine dominates the market at 73 percent (NetMarketShare, n.d.), and

has grown bigger than the search engine company it started as. Larry page now believes

Google’s mission is to “identify human problems that can be solved with technology and then

come up with the technologies that solve those problems” (Carlson, 2014).

Today, among other executives, Google’s leadership has shifted to Sundar Pichai, Ruth

Porat, and Daniel Alegre. Sundar Pichai, the current Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Google,

earned his Masters of Science in engineering and materials science in 1995, and a Masters in
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Business Administration from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 2002.

After beginning his career with Google in 2004, Sundar Pichai steadily moved up the ranks

before being named CEO after the announcement of Alphabet by Google's original founders in

2015 (Shepherd, n.d.). Second in the change of command came with Ruth Porat’s appointment to

Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Ruth Porat has a Masters of Science in Economics from the

London School of Economics and a Masters of Business Administration from the Wharton

School at the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to her appointment as CFO, Ruth served in the

same position at Morgan Stanley, where she started her career in 1987 (Forbes, n.d.). The last

Google executive, Daniel Alegre, started his position as President of Global Partnerships in

November 2012. Daniel has a Masters in Business Administration from Harvard Business

School and a Juris Doctorate degree from Harvard Law school. Prior to Google, Daniel lead

multiple digital ventures at companies like Napster and AOL (Bloomberg, n.d.).

Google currently offers products and services in a variety of different markets,

demonstrating the company’s growth from the search engine that established its name. As of

2019, according to Biswal (2019), Google's top five products include the Google search engine,

Google Chrome browser, Gmail, Android, and YouTube. All five products have performed well

in their respective markets, with their top product dominating the search engine market at

seventy percent market share (NetMarketShare, n.d.). Google’s second most popular product,

Google Chrome, has done exceptionally well since it’s introduction in 2008. Since its

introduction, according to Shankland (2018), Google chrome is now responsible for over half of

browser usage. Similarly, Google’s Youtube has enjoyed massive success since it’s introduction

in 2006. With no real competitor, YouTube is the defacto service for online video content,
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providing an outlet for many content creators while simultaneously supplementing income to

channels with quality content and large subscriptions. The last product, Google’s Android

operating system, has seen widespread success in the mobile market. As previously mentioned,

Android controls the majority of the U.S. mobile market. But when it comes to attracting

software developers to build for the Android platform, Google will have to change its formula

with Google Play, considering Google’s platform brings in less revenue than Apple’s App store

(Asay, 2018). Still, Google has shown major growth and success from its beginning as a

company built around a search engine. The success of Google’s products should serve as an

indicator to the company’s overall reputation.

In 2018, according to Valet (2018), Google was ranked number one for corporate

responsibility. It’s ranking at number one may come as a surprise, especially considering the

company’s failure to disclose the Google+ data breach. However, with all of Google’s success in

other product lines, the data breach in the social media platform was likely seen as a minor error

in the company’s long history of success. Corroborating Google’s reported ranking, Hess (2018)

reports that Google place number one in the 10 most attractive companies for computer science

majors. Additionally, in the same report, Google placed in the top ten for both engineering and

business majors, proving that the company has a stellar reputation. Jobseekers consistently view

Google not only as a company where their contribution can make a difference in the world, but

also as a company that will elevate skills in their respective fields. Also, reflecting Google’s

success as an innovative company, they are doing exceptional in terms of revenue. According to

Alphabet (2018), by the third quarter of the year, Google brought in over 95 billion dollars in

revenue. After Google reports its fourth quarter for 2018, the year will likely be the largest in
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annual revenue in the company’s history, indicating the company is not stagnating. The

company’s growth in annual revenue can likely be attributed to the company’s willingness to

venture into new technologies.

Today, as the mobile application industry grows, apps have been monetized increasingly

from in-app purchases and ads. Also, according to Takahashi (2016), game purchases are

dominating the app stores, accounting for over eighty percent of app purchases. With app

purchases expected to grow through 2020, more software developers will be looking to get their

application into the app stores. Likewise, capitalizing on the current atmosphere, Google has

introduced software to make app development a little easier for engineers. In 2018, Google

introduced their machine learning kit at Google I/O, allowing developers to bring features to

their apps that may have previously been out of reach. Currently, Google’s machine learning kit

supports “text recognition, face recognition, barcode scanning, image labeling and landmark

recognition” (Escher, Lynley, 2018). While anyone with some coding experience can begin

learning to build mobile apps, companies like Google will want developers with college degrees

to build apps and API’s like their machine learning kit.

Within the mobile application industry, there are several paths that are particularly

interesting. Designing software development kits for mobile platforms, similar to Google’s

machine learning kit, is a venture that is both innovative and game changing. But also,

developing applications to be sold on the app store is something that can be done not only in a

company, but also on a developers own time. Additionally, while working in a company that is

geared toward mobile development, many skills can be acquired. The teams that build software

for mobile platforms inherently have a great deal of knowledge about not only the platform itself,
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but also about software development as a whole. To become a successful app developer, many

skills must first come together that gives an individual the aptitude to make an application that is

not only unique and innovative, but also gives the customer a reason to purchase. These are

valuable lessons that any new developer can learn from an experienced team before introducing a

successful app themselves. It seems that a combination of private projects, formal education, and

on the job experience would be the best approach to becoming a successful app developer.

The best educational plan for entrance into the mobile development field appears to be

the completion of a four year computer science program in addition to personal progression

through books and the internet. Computer science courses taken at Palomar taught the foundation

with introductions to various programming languages in addition to data structures and

algorithms. The program that California State University, Monterey bay (CSUMB) offers will

expand on skills taught at Palomar, readying students for professional app development.

Specifically for Android development, CSCI 114 at Palomar College taught Java programming,

which is the programming language every Android developer uses to build applications.

Additionally, Palomar’s CSCI 210: data structures and algorithms, in addition to CST 370:

design and analysis of algorithms at CSUMB, prepares graduates to write efficient programs

which is important on mobile platforms. CST 363: Introduction to database systems and CST

325: Graphics Programming will both be important for mobile app development as well, with

databases and graphics being basic functions of any professional mobile application. Along with

professional software development comes courses like CST 338: Software design and CST 438:

Software engineering, which prepares student for work on large projects. But more importantly,

related to mobile application development, familiarity in a developers mobile platform of choice

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is crucial. Both Android and Apple have different approaches and requirements to development

on their platforms. For example, Android requires developers to use Android Studio, which uses

the Java programming language. On the other hand, Apple has its own programming language

named Swift for iOS development. The combination of all these skills, acquired through both

classroom and personal study, prepare graduates to enter an industry that is both demanding and

rapidly evolving.

In addition to the education required, networking is a vital part of landing a job in any

industry. To begin building a network, Linkedin serves as the best social media platform to

connect with engineers in the software industry, as well as students who will soon be industry

professionals. In addition to social media, local events are a great way to get involved with a

community that is active in a technologically focused future. Example of this include local

events that invite developers to solve challenges, volunteer opportunities to teach programming,

and code and coffee meetups advertised on social applications. Also, internships are important

for gaining valuable experience before entering the field as well as bringing students up to speed

on real-world work environments.

To close, in the software industry, companies like Google and Apple are companies that

lead the pack with products that resonate with consumers based on annual revenue. Most

software developers entering the industry would love to work at these top companies, but with

the power that they hold, these companies are able to choose the best in the field. Inevitably, a

four year degree in computer science will set graduates apart from those seeking entry into these

competitive companies with just self-taught experience. Both of these companies design the

operating systems that dominate the mobile market, and any developer looking to break into the
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mobile market would be served well to gain a bachelor’s degree before seeking employment at

companies like these.

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