What it pays
Government survey numbers — not estimates, not ads.
Half of all Software Developers in the U.S. earn more than $135,980 a year — the middle 80% land between $82,460 and $214,670. About 1.7 million people in the U.S. do this work. Figures are for the U.S. occupation group “Software Developers”. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics survey, published 2025.) In India, Professionals earn about ₹38,298 a month on average — around ₹4.6 lakh a year (government PLFS survey via ILOSTAT, occupation-family figure).
$135,980typical pay / year
1.7 millionpeople in this work
$214,670+top 10% earn
₹4.6 lakha year in India (family avg)
Think you get this job?Six quick questions on how it really works — with a hint and the reason behind every answer.
Test yourself →The work, task by task
These are the real jobs-to-be-done, not a wish list. Each task shows where we found it, and the prompt underneath is written for that exact task.
Make3
Build, test, and deploy software solutions
+Implement feature branch for the new billing API connector, write unit and integration tests, provision a…
Build, test, and deploy software solutions
+Implement feature branch for the new billing API connector, write unit and integration tests, provision a staging instance, deploy the build, run smoke tests and promote to production if all checks pass by Friday 6pm.
The tools that do the workAmazon Elastic Compute Cloud EC2ESCOjob descriptionsO*NETWikipedia
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Evaluate feasibility of software projects
+Assess feasibility of the payment reconciliation microservice for Q3 by listing required interfaces, data…
Evaluate feasibility of software projects
+Assess feasibility of the payment reconciliation microservice for Q3 by listing required interfaces, data models, estimated engineering weeks, major risks with mitigations, and whether it fits our current platform constraints; deliver a one-page decision brief by Tuesday.
The tools that do the workAmazon Elastic Compute Cloud EC2job descriptionsO*NETWikipedia
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Program all kinds of software systems
+Implement the inventory sync feature across SQL and the event bus: define the domain model, repository…
Program all kinds of software systems
+Implement the inventory sync feature across SQL and the event bus: define the domain model, repository interfaces, background worker behaviour, and tests, then submit a pull request with benchmarks and migration plan before the sprint end.
The tools that do the workAmazon Elastic Compute Cloud EC2ESCOjob descriptions
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Keeping the record2
Maintain and update existing software
+Triage and apply the critical bugfixes on the customer-profile API, update its integration tests, bump the…
Maintain and update existing software
+Triage and apply the critical bugfixes on the customer-profile API, update its integration tests, bump the semantic version, and draft the deployment notes so ops can release the patch in tomorrow's maintenance window.
The tools that do the workAmazon Elastic Compute Cloud EC2job descriptionsO*NETWikipedia
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Document software development processes
+Write the runbook and coding standards for the orders service repo: include architecture diagrams, API…
Document software development processes
+Write the runbook and coding standards for the orders service repo: include architecture diagrams, API contracts, CI steps, rollback criteria, and example code snippets so new engineers can onboard in one day; have a first draft ready Friday.
The tools that do the workAmazon Elastic Compute Cloud EC2ESCOjob descriptionsWikipedia
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Analysing1
Develop software design specifications
+Produce a software design spec for the new search subsystem: include use cases, sequence diagrams, data…
Develop software design specifications
+Produce a software design spec for the new search subsystem: include use cases, sequence diagrams, data schema, caching strategy, consistency model, and performance targets so architecture review can sign off next Wednesday.
The tools that do the workAmazon Elastic Compute Cloud EC2job descriptionsWikipedia
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
The daily work14
Plan and install new software systems
+Plan the new service deployment: inventory current microservices and middleware, propose a three-tier…
Plan and install new software systems
+Plan the new service deployment: inventory current microservices and middleware, propose a three-tier architecture with capacity estimates, list required OS and runtime versions, and schedule the rollout for Tuesday with rollback criteria and owner names.
The tools that do the workAmazon Web Services AWS CloudFormationjob descriptionsO*NET
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Debug and troubleshoot software errors
+Investigate the API failures seen since midnight: reproduce the error with the failing request, capture logs…
Debug and troubleshoot software errors
+Investigate the API failures seen since midnight: reproduce the error with the failing request, capture logs and stack traces, pinpoint the code path and probable root cause, and draft a fix with test cases by end of day for review by Priya and Marcus.
The tools that do the workAJAXjob descriptionsWikipedia
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Design user interfaces and improve UI/UX
+Draft UI behaviour changes to reduce checkout drop-offs: map current user flows, list friction points with…
Design user interfaces and improve UI/UX
+Draft UI behaviour changes to reduce checkout drop-offs: map current user flows, list friction points with screenshots, propose three component-level changes with acceptance criteria and performance budgets, and hand the spec to Lina for visual polish on Thursday.
The tools that do the workAdobe Creative Cloudjob descriptionsWikipedia
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Prepare reports or correspondence concerning project specifications, activities, or status.
+Produce the weekly project status note: summarise completed tickets, blockers, upcoming deliverables, and…
Prepare reports or correspondence concerning project specifications, activities, or status.
+Produce the weekly project status note: summarise completed tickets, blockers, upcoming deliverables, and risks with owners; attach engineering estimates and the updated timeline, then send to the product director and procurement on Friday morning.
The tools that do the workAdobe AcrobatO*NET
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Store, retrieve, and manipulate data for analysis of system capabilities and requirements.
+Prepare the data access plan to support capacity analysis: define required schemas, list query patterns and…
Store, retrieve, and manipulate data for analysis of system capabilities and requirements.
+Prepare the data access plan to support capacity analysis: define required schemas, list query patterns and retention windows, export sample datasets, and document APIs and access controls so analysts can run performance projections by Wednesday.
The tools that do the workAmazon DynamoDBO*NET
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Determine system performance standards.
+Set measurable performance targets for the service: collect current latency and throughput baselines, define…
Determine system performance standards.
+Set measurable performance targets for the service: collect current latency and throughput baselines, define SLOs and SLA thresholds per endpoint, propose load test scenarios and hardware targets, and record who will monitor and respond to breaches.
The tools that do the workAmazon Elastic Compute Cloud EC2O*NET
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Support users in using software applications
+Help Jenna on Support Team troubleshoot reports that the file uploader fails with a 500 when she submits…
Support users in using software applications
+Help Jenna on Support Team troubleshoot reports that the file uploader fails with a 500 when she submits large CSVs; reproduce the error on the staging API, capture the logs, add a clear error and retry guidance to the user-facing API docs, and notify Jenna when fixed.
The tools that do the workAJAXWikipedia
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Utilise computer-aided software engineering tools
+Run the model-build pipeline for the billing service, validate the generated UML and sequence diagrams…
Utilise computer-aided software engineering tools
+Run the model-build pipeline for the billing service, validate the generated UML and sequence diagrams against current code, fix any mismatches in the CI pipeline, and update the engineering notes so reviewers can follow the design changes.
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Train users to use new or modified equipment.
+Run the hands-on session for ops and QA teams on the new deployment racks and API gateway: cover…
Train users to use new or modified equipment.
+Run the hands-on session for ops and QA teams on the new deployment racks and API gateway: cover authentication flow, rolling restart procedure, how to read the health LEDs, and have each attendee run a complete boot-and-connect cycle today at 4pm.
The tools that do the workAmazon Elastic Compute Cloud EC2O*NET
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Review code for errors and improvements
+Do a focused peer review of Priya’s feature branch: run the unit tests, flag incorrect error handling in the…
Review code for errors and improvements
+Do a focused peer review of Priya’s feature branch: run the unit tests, flag incorrect error handling in the auth module, suggest a clearer service interface, and write three inline comments and one summary to merge by Thursday noon.
The tools that do the workAJAXjob descriptions
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Collaborate with team members on development projects
+Set up the sprint pairing session with Marco and Leila to work through the invoice microservice: sketch the…
Collaborate with team members on development projects
+Set up the sprint pairing session with Marco and Leila to work through the invoice microservice: sketch the API contract, split endpoints to minimize locking, assign integration tests, and commit the agreed interface by end of day Friday.
The tools that do the workAmazon Elastic Compute Cloud EC2job descriptions
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Ensure software security and data protection
+Run a security sweep on the payments module: check secrets handling, enforce parameterized queries, audit…
Ensure software security and data protection
+Run a security sweep on the payments module: check secrets handling, enforce parameterized queries, audit third-party dependencies for known vulnerabilities, and produce a mitigation plan for anything rated high before Monday.
The tools that do the workAmazon Redshiftjob descriptions
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Monitor software performance post-deployment
+Start continuous performance checks on the new release: deploy it to the staging cluster, run baseline load…
Monitor software performance post-deployment
+Start continuous performance checks on the new release: deploy it to the staging cluster, run baseline load tests, capture latency and error rates for each endpoint, and open tickets for any endpoint exceeding 500ms p95 by tomorrow morning.
The tools that do the workAmazon Elastic Compute Cloud EC2job descriptions
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Release software updates and versions
+Prepare and execute the release for version 2.4.1: tag the release commit, build artifacts, run smoke tests,…
Release software updates and versions
+Prepare and execute the release for version 2.4.1: tag the release commit, build artifacts, run smoke tests, update the changelog with breaking changes, and coordinate the deploy window with on-call for Friday 21:00 UTC.
The tools that do the workAmazon Elastic Compute Cloud EC2Wikipedia
Pasted it? Good. When the reply comes back, push once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part. — Did this prompt help?
Says who?
These are the pages we read to build this. Open any of them and check us.
Activities this job lives in
The human activities behind the tasks — each with its honest AI ceiling.
The logs, files & records this job keeps
Shared with other careers — the same record means something different in each.
Related careers
Same family of work — each with its own tasks and prompts.
The LLOS Work Atlas is the world's largest evidenced task library — a map of human work, with a ready prompt behind every task. 1,774 careers · every task named by the sources that witnessed it — O*NET, ESCO, real job descriptions, Wikipedia — and the deepest tasks by several at once. And it is honest about limits: where AI cannot help, the map says so.
The rest of the map
Same library, five ways in.
Copyright © LLOS.ai · 2026 — original pedagogy, voice, and design — all rights reserved.
Built on public evidence: O*NET®, ESCO, Wikipedia, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, ILOSTAT. All sources & licenses
Built on public evidence: O*NET®, ESCO, Wikipedia, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, ILOSTAT. All sources & licenses