Career paths & professional titles🎓 Professional title: Application Designer and Developer
Application Designer and Developer
Design, develop, test and deploy secure web and mobile applications, from the need to production — level 6 (Bac +3/4).
- Duration
- 770 h · 110 days
- Level
- Advanced
- Format
- On site · Remote · Blended
- Max. group size
- 15 participants
Overview
This path prepares for the professional title of Application Designer and Developer (RNCP37873, level 6). It covers the whole chain of an application project: needs analysis, software and data architecture design, front-end, back-end and mobile development, security, testing, documentation, deployment and DevOps practices. The on-site training represents 770 hours, complemented by 420 hours of internship in a company. It alternates lectures, hands-on work and a capstone project, and relies on agile methods. Each skill block is validated by a professional application presented in writing and orally.
Who this program is for
- People retraining or moving up towards a developer career
- Web developers or technicians who want to validate a level 6
- Job seekers and employees (depending on funding schemes)
- Training centers offering the professional title as a work-study or continuing-education program
Prerequisites
- Level 5 with an IT focus (BTS, Web and Mobile Web Developer professional title, or equivalent), or a waiver after a jury's opinion
- IT aptitude tests and motivation interview
- Technical English at B1 level recommended (reading documentation)
Learning objectives
- Analyze needs and formalize a functional and technical specification
- Design the software architecture and the database of an application
- Develop secure web and mobile interfaces, services and APIs
- Program using object-oriented and functional paradigms
- Set up tests, documentation and quality control
- Apply best practices in security, GDPR, accessibility and eco-design
- Prepare deployment: containers, continuous integration and delivery, cloud
- Work in a team using agile methods and present your work to a jury
Detailed curriculum
16 modules · 770 h · 110 days
Common core
Working environment, Git and agile project management
40% theory · 60% practice
- Developer workstation: editor, terminal, containers, dependency management
- Git and GitHub: branches, pull requests, code reviews
- Agile methods: Scrum, roles, ceremonies, backlog, user stories
- Estimation, planning and project tracking
- Technology watch and reading documentation in English
🛠 Hands-on workshops
Organize a project in sprints7 h · 1 day
Form a team, write a backlog and run a first sprint with review and retrospective.
✅ Deliverable : A backlog, a tracking board and a sprint report
Object-oriented and functional programming
30% theory · 70% practice
- Algorithms, data structures and complexity
- Object-oriented programming: classes, encapsulation, inheritance, polymorphism, interfaces
- Collections, generics, exceptions and streams (Java)
- Functional programming: lambdas, streams, immutability
- SOLID principles and clean code best practices
- Debugging and reading stack traces
🛠 Hands-on workshops
Console-based management application21 h · 3 days
Design and program a complete object-oriented application with file persistence.
✅ Deliverable : A documented, versioned Java application
Relational databases and data modeling
30% theory · 70% practice
- Conceptual data modeling (conceptual/logical models) and normalization
- SQL: creation, queries, joins, aggregations, subqueries
- Transactions, indexes, views and stored procedures
- Integrity, access rights and backups
- Accessing data from a programming language
🛠 Hands-on workshops
Model and query an application's database14 h · 2 days
From needs analysis to the creation script and operational queries.
✅ Deliverable : A data model, an SQL script and a set of queries
Block 1 — Develop a secure application
Front-end development: HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript
25% theory · 75% practice
- Semantic HTML5 and accessible forms
- CSS3, Flexbox, Grid and responsive design
- Modern JavaScript (ES6+), DOM, events and asynchronous code
- Consuming a REST API (Fetch, JSON)
- Accessibility (RGAA), performance and eco-design
🛠 Hands-on workshops
Dynamic web interface consuming an API21 h · 3 days
Design a responsive, accessible interface connected to a public API.
✅ Deliverable : A dynamic website published online
React and TypeScript
25% theory · 75% practice
- TypeScript: types, interfaces, generics
- React: components, props, state, hooks
- Routing, forms and global state management
- API calls, client-side authentication and error handling
- Component testing
🛠 Hands-on workshops
React application connected to an API21 h · 3 days
Develop a single-page application with authentication and data management.
✅ Deliverable : A typed, tested React application
Cross-platform mobile development with React Native
25% theory · 75% practice
- Mobile application architecture and lifecycle
- Native components, navigation and state management
- Access to sensors and device features
- Local storage, notifications and network calls
- Publishing on app stores
🛠 Hands-on workshops
Connected mobile application14 h · 2 days
Build an iOS/Android application with navigation, network calls and local storage.
✅ Deliverable : A working mobile application
Application security
40% theory · 60% practice
- Main vulnerabilities (OWASP Top 10) and how to prevent them
- Authentication, authorization, sessions and tokens (JWT, OAuth2)
- Encryption, password hashing and secrets management
- Personal data protection and GDPR compliance
- Security-focused code review and basic penetration testing
🛠 Hands-on workshops
Audit and secure a vulnerable application14 h · 2 days
Identify flaws in a deliberately vulnerable application and fix them.
✅ Deliverable : A vulnerability report and the fixes applied
Block 2 — Design and develop a layered application
Needs analysis, design and software architecture
40% theory · 60% practice
- Gathering requirements and writing the specification
- UML modeling: use cases, classes, sequences, states
- Layered, MVC, hexagonal and microservice architectures
- Common design patterns
- Technology choices and architecture documentation
- Mockups and ergonomics
🛠 Hands-on workshops
Application design document21 h · 3 days
Produce the complete design document of a business application.
✅ Deliverable : A design document with UML diagrams
Back-end development with Spring Boot
25% theory · 75% practice
- Architecture of a Spring Boot application
- Dependency injection and configuration
- REST API: design, validation, error handling, OpenAPI documentation
- Persistence with JPA/Hibernate and transaction management
- Security with Spring Security (authentication and roles)
- Layered architecture: controllers, services, repositories
- Asynchronous processing and messaging
🛠 Hands-on workshops
REST API of a business application35 h · 5 days
Design, develop and document the API of a layered application with security.
✅ Deliverable : A secure, documented and tested API
Front-end / back-end integration14 h · 2 days
Connect the React application to the API you built.
✅ Deliverable : A complete working application
NoSQL databases and polyglot persistence
30% theory · 70% practice
- NoSQL models: documents, key-value, graphs
- MongoDB: modeling, queries and aggregations
- Consistency, performance and choosing between SQL and NoSQL
- Integration with an API
🛠 Hands-on workshops
Add a document database to the application7 h · 1 day
Store and query semi-structured data with MongoDB.
✅ Deliverable : An integrated NoSQL persistence module
Testing and software quality
30% theory · 70% practice
- Test pyramid: unit, integration, end-to-end
- Unit testing with JUnit and Mockito
- Test-driven development (TDD)
- Coverage, static analysis and code review
- API and performance testing
🛠 Hands-on workshops
Test plan for an application14 h · 2 days
Write the unit and integration tests of an application and measure coverage.
✅ Deliverable : An automated test suite and its report
Block 3 — Prepare the deployment of a secure application
Containers, continuous integration and delivery (DevOps)
30% theory · 70% practice
- Docker: images, containers, volumes, networks and Docker Compose
- Continuous integration: build and test pipeline
- Continuous delivery and environment management
- Monitoring, logging and incident management
- Versioning and deployment best practices
🛠 Hands-on workshops
CI/CD pipeline for an application21 h · 3 days
Containerize the application and set up a build, test and deployment pipeline.
✅ Deliverable : A working, documented CI/CD pipeline
Cloud and orchestration
40% theory · 60% practice
- Cloud fundamentals: IaaS, PaaS, SaaS, shared responsibility
- AWS and Azure services to host an application
- Introduction to Kubernetes: pods, services, deployments
- Costs, availability and eco-design
- Security and access management in the cloud
🛠 Hands-on workshops
Deploy the application to the cloud14 h · 2 days
Put the containerized application online with a cloud provider.
✅ Deliverable : An application available online
Documentation, quality and going to production
30% theory · 70% practice
- Technical documentation and operations manual
- Deployment, migration and rollback plan
- Corrective and evolutive maintenance
- Compliance: GDPR, RGAA and eco-design
- Communication with a team and with the client
🛠 Hands-on workshops
Go-live file7 h · 1 day
Write the project's documentation and deployment plan.
✅ Deliverable : A go-live file
Project and certification
Capstone project
15% scoping · 85% implementation
- Scoping the need and building the backlog
- Team development in agile mode: sprints, reviews, demos
- Implementing the whole chain: design, front, back, tests, deployment
- Code review and acceptance testing
🛠 Hands-on workshops
Capstone project: a complete application56 h · 8 days
Develop as a team an end-to-end web and mobile application, deployed online.
✅ Deliverable : An application in production and its documented repository
Preparation for the professional title
10% scoping · 90% practice
- Professional file and project file
- Writing and formatting the evidence of skills
- Preparing the defense and the final interview
- Simulations before a jury
🛠 Hands-on workshops
Defense simulation7 h · 1 day
Presentation to a mock jury, technical questions and detailed feedback.
✅ Deliverable : Detailed feedback and a preparation plan
Tools and technologies
AWSAgile / ScrumCSS3DockerFigmaGitGitHubGitHub ActionsHTML5JUnitJavaJavaScriptKubernetesMicrosoft AzureMongoDBMySQLPostmanReactReact NativeSpring BootTypeScriptVisual Studio Code
Certifications
Professional title: Application Designer and Developer
Level 6 professional title organized into skill blocks: develop a secure application, design and develop a secure layered application, prepare the deployment of a secure application. Validated through practical scenarios, a professional file and a final interview before a jury.
Teaching methods
- Concrete projects and supervised hands-on work
- Capstone project over several months in agile mode (Scrum)
- Code reviews, design workshops and professional scenarios
- Individual follow-up by a trainer and an educational advisor, both on site and in the company
- Technology watch, awareness of GDPR and RGAA accessibility
Assessment
- Four skill assessments, each validated by a professional application (written file and oral defense)
- Hands-on assessments during the course
- Professional dissertation based on company experience
- Final jury made up of professionals
Required equipment
- One laptop per participant (16 GB of memory recommended for Docker)
- A reliable internet connection
- Access to a free cloud account (AWS or Azure) for the deployment workshops
Resources provided
- Course materials and solved exercise repositories
- Project specifications and assessment grids
- Templates for the professional file and technical documentation
- Library of Académie WS course videos
Career outcomes
- Level 6 professional title recognized by the Ministry of Labor
- A portfolio of projects ready to show to recruiters
- Ability to hold a position as application designer-developer, full stack developer or technical project manager
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