Being a Python freelancer is a new way of living in the 21st century. It’s a path of personal growth, learning new skills, and earning money in the process. But in today’s digital economy, becoming a Python freelancer is – above everything else – a lifestyle choice. It can give you fulfillment, flexibility, and endless growth opportunities. Additionally, it offers you a unique way of connecting with other people, learning about their exciting projects, and finding friends and acquaintances on the way.

Disclaimer: Please don’t take this as legal advice but as tips & tricks from someone who’s been there and done that.

Freelance Developer Germany Pros and Cons

So what are the advantages of being a freelance coder? Let’s dive right into them.

Advantages of Being a Freelance Programmer in Germany

• Flexibility: One big advantage of being a Python freelancer is that you are flexible in time and space. I live in a large German city (Stuttgart) where rent prices are increasing. However, since I am working full-time in the Python industry, being self-employed, and 100% digital, I have the freedom to move to the countryside. Outside large cities, housing is exceptionally cheap and living expenses are truly affordable. I am earning good money matched only by a few employees in my home town — while I am not forced to compete for housing to live close to my employers.  A few cities demand very high prices in Germany while others allow you to get affordable and beautiful houses in the countryside. A clear advantage for freelance developers!
• Independence: Do you hate working for your boss? Does your boss still value old-school values such as working 9-to-5? In Germany, a lot of bosses are that way. Being a freelancer injects a dose of true independence into your life. While you are not totally free (after all, you are still working for clients), you can theoretically get rid of any single client while not losing your profession. Firing your bad clients is even a smart thing to do because they demand more of your time, drain your energy, pay you badly (if at all), and don’t value your work in general. In contrast, good clients will treat you with respect, pay well and on time, come back, refer you to other clients, and make working with them a pleasant and productive experience. As an employee, you don’t have this freedom of firing your boss until you find a good one.
• Tax advantages: As a freelancer, you start your own business. Please note that I’m not an accountant — and tax laws are different in different countries. But in Germany and many other developed nations, your small Python freelancing business usually comes with a lot of tax advantages. You can deduct many expenses from the taxes you pay, such as your Notebook, your car, your living expenses, working environment, eating outside with clients or partners, your smartphone, and so on. At the end of the year, many freelancers enjoy tax benefits worth tens of thousands of Euros. You can find a detailed tax guide here.
• Business expertise: This advantage is maybe the most important one. As a freelancer, you gain a tremendous amount of experience in the business world. You learn to offer and sell your skills in the marketplace, you learn how to acquire clients and keep them happy, you learn how to solve problems, and you learn how to keep your books clean, invest, and manage your money. Being a freelancer gives you a lot of valuable business experiences. And even if you plan to start a more scalable business system, being a freelance developer is truly a great first step towards your goal. The business experience is a clear plus compared to other, more “nerdy” developers working only with code. The business skills will make you a more valuable person—even for established companies.
• Paid learning: While you have to pay to learn at University—living is relatively expensive in Germany—being a freelance developer flips this situation upside down. You are getting paid for learning. As a bonus, the things you are learning are as practical as they can be. Instead of coding toy projects in University, you are coding (more or less) exciting projects with an impact on the real world. In Germany, the pay is relatively good due to the developed nature of the economy.
• Save time in commute: Many Germans are stuck in commute for hours and hours every day. Being in commute is one of the major time killers in modern life. During a 10 year period, you’ll waste 2000-4000 hours — enough to become a master in a new topic of your choice, or writing more than ten full books and sell them on the marketplace. Commute time to work is one of the greatest inefficiencies of our society. And you, as a freelance developer, can completely eliminate it. This will make your life constantly easier, you have an unfair advantage compared to any other employee. You can spend the time on learning, recreation, or building more side businesses. You don’t even need a car (I don’t have one) which will save you hundreds of thousands of Euros throughout your lifetime (the average German employee spends 300,000 € on cars).
• Family time: During the last 12 months being self-employed with Python, I watched my 1-year old son walking his first steps and speaking his first words. I was actually attending every single stage of his development and growth. While this often seems very normal to me, I guess that many fathers who work at big companies as employees may have missed their sons and daughters growing up. In my environment, most fathers do not have time to spend with their kids during their working days. But I have and I’m very grateful for this.
• Competition: In Germany, there’s a seller’s market for freelance developers—demand is much higher than supply. This means that you can charge premium rates and work only on the gigs you want.

Are you already convinced that becoming a Python freelancer is the way to go for you? You are not alone. To help you with your quest, I have created the one and only Python freelancer course on the web which pushes you to Python freelancer level in a few months — starting out as a beginner coder. The course is designed to pay for itself because it will instantly increase your hourly rate on diverse freelancing platforms such as Upwork or Fiverr.

Disadvantages of Being a Freelance Programmer in Germany

• Less stability: It’s hard to reach a stable income as a freelancer. In Germany, many people seek security above freedom. Also, if you want to buy your own home and need credit, banks usually have less trust in your ability to generate income than if you were employed.
• Bad clients: You will get those bad clients for sure. However, in Germany this disadvantage is somehow mitigated as clients are mostly business owners that are able to pay their freelancing fees.
• Legacy code: Germany has a lot of large and established industry players such as Bosch, Daimler, and other manufacturers. These older industries usually have older code bases as well. As a German freelance developer, you may need to handle more legacy code than as a freelancer in a newer economy such as, for example, India.
• Solitude: If you are working as an employee at a company, you always have company, quite literally. In Germany, this culture is especially true—only a small percentage of your IT friends will work as self-employed freelance developers. Most coders work for big companies.

Freelance Developer Germany While Employed

If you’re an employee, you have the freedom to create your own side-hustle in Germany. However, there are some laws that ensure that people don’t work too much. Thus, you need to be careful not to work too many hours per week. In this resource, they recommend not to work more than 18 hours per week on your side business—if you still have a main job. In general, these are the points to consider when creating your own side-business as a freelance developer in Germany:

• Side vs Main Income: Make sure to earn more in your main job than in your side business. This is required so that it still counts as a side-business and not your main income. In that case, your business would be considered your main income which would result in a loss of some benefits paid by your employer.
• Inform Your Employer: You may need to inform your employer that you create your side business. This may be required by contract or even by law (for some type of jobs such as government employees).
• Register Your Business: You need to register your business with the tax office and government. As in most other countries, you cannot just “go for it” but need to register your intent to create a business—even if it is on the side.
• Social Insurance: If you’re creating a business on the side, you’re stilled insured by your employer (e.g., for pension funds and health insurance). That’s why you need to make sure not to work or earn too much for your side business. As soon as you cross this threshold and your “side” business becomes your primary income stream, you need to take care of insurance yourself and you’ll lose access to the benefits provided by the employer. (Well, if you reach this point, you essentially have a double income so you probably wouldn’t care financially.)
• Tax: You need to make sure to pay all taxes (e.g., sales tax and income tax). However, suppose you don’t earn a lot with your side business. In that case, you’re probably eligible to apply for special tax treatment (“Kleinunternehmerregelung”) to free you from the need (partially) to pay sales taxes.

You can read more in this excellent online overview article.

Freelance Developer Germany Hourly Rate

Freelance developers in Germany earn more than their employed colleagues. A recent article from a German magazine states that the average freelance developer earns 84€ per hour. If you work 8 hours per day for a client, you’d earn 640€ per day or 13440€ per month.

Note that this is the average rate of a freelance developer! Most people can significantly increase their income by honing their business and programming skills at the same time—and reach above-average hourly rates over time. If you reach expert status in a certain area, you can charge 100€ per hour which results in a monthly income of 16000€.

Becoming a freelance developer in Germany is, indeed, a profitable endeavor!

Make sure to save some 10% of your income for more calm times to ensure liquidity at all costs. Cash is the lifeblood of any business and the sensible business owner makes sure to always have enough cash on their bank account to pay for at least 6 months of expenses.

To learn how to reach above-average hourly rates, join my Python freelancer course—the world’s most comprehensive and in-depth freelance developer program!

*** The Six-Figure Python Freelance Developer Course ***

Freelance Developer Germany Tax

There are two primary types of taxes for self-employed freelancers in Germany: sales tax and income tax.

• Sales tax is between 16-18% of each transaction volume and if you sell your services to another business, you can usually deduct it again (ask your accountant)!
• Income tax can easily reach 40% of your income if you reach the average earning levels of a German freelancer of a six-figure income.

However, if you’re just starting out and you’ve only a few or zero clients, you don’t have to pay either sales tax and income tax.

There are many ways to optimize your taxes and I recommend you check out our detailed tax guide (for hackers) to learn some smart ways to pay less tax and invest in your future success.

Freelance Developer German Language

My friend and freelancer Lukas is involved in freelancing for German clients. He’s a German guy so he swears on using a German gig description on freelancing platforms such as Fiverr. The big benefit is that, as a person being able to speak the German language, you can shield yourself from international competition and price wars. Many German clients only seek freelancers who can speak German with them because they’re uncomfortable in expressing their needs and gig specifications in a foreign language such as English. Being able to speak German well can make your freelancing business even more profitable and better protected against the competition!

Where to Go From Here?

Enough theory, let’s get some practice!

To become successful in coding, you need to get out there and solve real problems for real people. That’s how you can become a six-figure earner easily. And that’s how you polish the skills you really need in practice. After all, what’s the use of learning theory that nobody ever needs?

Practice projects is how you sharpen your saw in coding!

Do you want to become a code master by focusing on practical code projects that actually earn you money and solve problems for people?

Then become a Python freelance developer! It’s the best way of approaching the task of improving your Python skills—even if you are a complete beginner.

Join my free webinar “How to Build Your High-Income Skill Python” and watch how I grew my coding business online and how you can, too—from the comfort of your own home.

Join the free webinar now!

The post How to Be a Freelance Developer in Germany first appeared on Finxter.

Every month for the last couple years Epic Games have given away several assets for Unreal Engine with today being no exception. While the assets are completely free, they are only free until the first Tuesday of December. Once “purchased” the assets are yours forever.

This months free assets include:

Permanently Free Additions:

Unfortunately there is no video yet as YouTube Studio for creators is currently down and nobody can upload or edit videos right now. Once YouTube errors are fixed we will upload a video.

As had been previously promised, Ninjala‘s third season is now live and brings plenty of new content along for the ride.

Major new additions include Special Collections and the all-new Spectator Mode, but there are the usual gameplay tweaks and new weapons to enjoy, too. You can find the full (and very lengthy) patch notes below…

Ninjala Season 3 | Theme: dragons!

Season Schedule

Oct. 28, 2020, 19:00 (PDT) – Jan. 06, 2021, 17:59 (PST)
29 Oct. 2020, 02:00 (GMT) – 07 Jan. 2021, 01:59 (GMT)
29 Oct. 2020, 12:00 (AEST) – 07 Jan. 2021, 11:59 (AEST)

Ninjala Story Pack: Chapter Two

The Ninjala Story Pack: Chapter Two featuring Berecca is now available as DLC!

New gum weapons: Pop Eye and Cerberus join the fray!

Two new weapon types, Pop Eye and Cerberus, have been added!

A new stage appears: Croissant Arena!

Get ready to do battle in a giant sporting stadium! This new stage, Croissant Arena, is packed with fans ready to cheer on your ninja moves!

New Features

– Items available for purchase in the in-game specialty shop will be displayed in rank format, and new Special Collections will be available for purchase.

– A all-new Spectator Mode has been added for Room Battles.

– The UI and layout of the base screen has been revised to make it easier to review ninja missions you’ve undertaken.

– A non-combat area has been implemented for the Team Battle standby dojo.

– A Ninjala Code feature to claim special presents has been added to the Options Menu.

– Increased the number of registerable favorites in the Closet to 20.

– Buying a NInjala Pass will make it so that Ninja-Gum will never be consumed for the duration of the season.

– Four types of stickers useful for communication have been added to the group of stickers selectable from the start.

Gum Weapon Parameter Adjustments

The Ninjala development team is dedicated to ensuring that players can enjoy a wide variety of battling styles.

After careful observation of winning percentages by gum weapon and weapon popularity, we have implemented a host of balance adjustments.

At the core of our adjustments this time, we strengthened the following weapons which were posting low victory rates: Iron Noise, Drum Beat, Mellow à la Mode, and Trick Ball. In addition, we made refinements to the following, which boasted disproportionally high usage and win rates: Ninja Yo-yo, Shinobi Spinner, and Utsusemi Master.

We have also adjusted various gum weapons so that new combos and tactics can be discovered and employed.

We hope these refinements will allow players to continue to enjoy diverse styles of play in Ninjala battles.

IPPON Katana	Scroll Blade

– Attack combo time for normal, back, and wide attacks has been shortened.

– The attack cancel timing against Charging Slash when a Gum Break connects has been quickened.

With this adjustment, combo time has been shortened, so it will be possible to defeat your opponents faster.

Drill Beast	Corn Bat

– Attack combo time for normal, back, and wide attacks has been shortened.

– Changed the number of back attack hits from 3 hits to 2 hits so that it is not as easily affected by lag issues.

– Increased back attack damage.

– Wide attacks have received the following adjustments:

　 Changed to rise during attack for the second attack

　 Increased the duration of hit detection for the third attack

– “Here and There” has been adjusted so that movement is possible immediately after diving into the ground.

– The attack cancel timing against Here and There when a Gum Break connects has been quickened.

In this adjustment, we have made various enhancements, including adjustments to “Here and There”

Combo time has been shortened, so it will be possible to defeat your opponents faster.

By reducing the number of hits for back attack, it will allow combos to finish faster.

While the number of hits for individual combos will be reduced, rest assured that this adjustment will result in greater overall damage-dealing potential with back attacks.

SK8 Hammer	Sushi Axe

– Wide attacks have received the following adjustments:

　 Accelerated the occurrence of attacks.

　 Adjusted combo hit count and damage dealt.

　 You can now cancel faster when proceeding to your next action after a hit connects.

　 Distance traveled when attacking has also been increased, making it easier to land attacks.

　 Increased damage resulting from normal attacks.

　 Reduced ninjutsu gauge rate of increase.

In this adjustment, we have strengthened wide attacks for these weapons.

It will now be possible to attack faster and land hits more easily than before.

Iron Noise	Drum Beat

– Normal attacks have received the following adjustments:

　 Accelerated the occurrence of attacks..

　 Accelerated the occurrence of sonic bullets.

　 Distance traveled when attacking has also been increased, making it easier to land attacks.

– Back attacks have received the following adjustments:

　 For a set duration during attacks, it will now guard against normal attacks.

　 Increased the duration of hit detection

– Wide attacks have received the following adjustments:

　 Accelerated the occurrence of attacks..

– The following adjustments have been made to “Echoing Scream”:

　 Accelerated the occurrence of attacks..

　 For a set duration during attacks, it will now guard against normal attacks.

With these adjustments, we have strengthened this weapon overall.

By speeding up normal attacks, it will now be easier to attack with sonic waves when facing an opponent. Furthermore, back attacks and Echoing Scream may now be used to guard against normal attacks, allowing you to cut into your opponent’s attack and attack for yourself.

Echoing Scream has also been sped up, allowing it to be used more effectively in various combos.

Ninja Yo-yo	Shinobi Spinner

– The first through fourth hits of wide attack combos have received the following adjustments:

　 Yo-yo Leap may now be canceled.

　 When the attack misses, it can now be canceled by jumping or with a Gum Boost.

　 The yo-yo will no longer be set when canceled early.

　 Hit detection range has been reduced..

– Damage for the first hit of wide attacks has been reduced.

– Distance traveled with follow-up attack hits 2 through 4 has been increased.

Distance traveled when attacking with Gum Breaks has also been increased, making it easier to land attacks.

– The following adjustments have been made to “Yo-yo Leap”:

　 Cancellation timing at unleashing has been delayed.

　 Attack speed at unleashing has been delayed.

　 Homing ability has also been reduced.

　 Increased downtime when pulling back yo-yo.

　 Changed the reaction when pulling back yo-yo with a Gum Break.

　Cancel timing when a warp attack lands has been sped up.

After careful review, we determined that Yo-Yo Leap was overpowered, as pulling the yo-yo back skillfully could allow players to defeat opponent one-sidedly and without risk, even without anticipating for S-Bursts.

By increasing downtime, it will no longer be possible to perform follow-up attacks when pulling back multiple times. Furthermore, a blowback reaction has been added when taking a gum break pullback.

Although the strength of “Yo-yo Leap” itself has been reduced, we have strengthened the wide attack to compensate, allowing for new attack strategies.

With the wide attack, by cancelling after a miss, you can reset your yo-yo and recover more easily. Also, by cancelling after a hit, you will be able to chain it into Yo-yo Leap for a combo.

Mellow à la Mode	Trick Ball

– Normal attacks have received the following adjustments:

　 Distance traveled when attacking has been increased, making it easier to land attacks.

　 Shortened attack combo time.

– Back attacks have received the following adjustments:

　 Cancel timing when an attack lands has been sped up.

　 Cancel timing when an attack misses has been sped up.

　 Reduced damage for direct hits, and increased damage when a blast connects.

　 (Total damage has been reduced for big weapons only)

– Wide attacks have received the following adjustments:

　 The second hit will initiate earlier

　 Cancel timing when an attack lands has been sped up.

　 Cancel timing when an attack misses has been sped up.

– Beyond the Gum

　 Hit reaction has been altered so that immobilization will occur right in that place.

With this adjustment, combos using “Beyond the Gum” will now be sure to connect.

Furthermore, gaps in attacking have been reduced overall, which should make it possible to defeat opponents more quickly than before.

Matsuri Board	Camu Camu Plate

– Reduced immobilization on your side when guarding the 2nd to 4th hits of wide attacks.

Home Run Surfer	Ninja Calibur

– Distance traveled with the first hit of a normal attack has been increased.

-The following adjustments have been made to the 2nd hit of normal attacks and back attacks

　 Changed the number of hits from 3 hits to 2 hits so that it is not as easily affected by lag issues.

　(This adjustment will not affect total damage done by the combo.)

– When the first hit of a wide attack is guarded, immobilization on the opponent’s side has increased

Tenchi Muyo

– Hit detection range has been reduced..

Gum Kunai

– Cooldown time has been reduced.

Gum Kunai is not particularly effective on its own, but when combined with other attacks or used together with teammates, it becomes a highly effective Gum Shoot. To this end, we sped up its cooldown to allow it to be more efficiently linked with other attacks.

In addition, though it has low penetration, allowing it to be overcome by other gum shoots, it allows for quicker recovery in the event that it is overpowered.

With these adjustments, the Scroll Blade and Iron Noise have been enhanced.

In particular, Iron Noise will have a greater chance of approaching allowing players to reap the benefits.

S-Energy

– The rate at which S-Energy is naturally recovered has been increased.

Utsusemi

– If you suffer damage, guard, or parry after pressing the Utsusemi button and before entering the transformation, the Utsusemi will no longer occur.

Utsusemi Master

– The time duration until the Utsusemi breaks after being set has been reduced.

After careful review, we determined that Utsusemi Master was overpowered in that it allowed players to counter by using Utsusemi immediately before being hit with an attack. This adjustment will make it more difficult to use Utsusemi as a counter.

Combos using Utsusemi to directly attack opponents will still be possible.

Utsusemi Master remains an extremely powerful Shinobi Card, and we intend to closely monitor how it is used going forward in light of these adjustments.

Matching Adjustments for Ranked Matches

With this update, we have adjusted the matching algorithm to prevent new players from being matched with intermediate and advanced players. Specifically, players of the Apprentice, Adept Ninja, or Vanguard Ninja ranks will only be matched with other players of the same or similar rank.

For players from the Elite Ninja to Ninja God ranks, priority will be given to other players of the same or similar rank. However, in the event that such opponents cannot be found, matching will be conducted with players of divergent ranks.

For ranked Team Battles, matching will be conducted based upon the average rank of each team, with opponent teams of a similar average rank being selected.

– With Free Matches, quick matching will be given relatively higher priority compared to Ranked Matches.

Rating Calculation Adjustments

With this update, we have fundamentally overhauled the rating calculation system. In particular, to this point, when a high-ranked player lost to a low-ranked player, or in team battles with extreme rank differentials, decreases in rating were excessive. With this update, high-ranking players will see less severe rating drops in these situations. Furthermore, with Team Battles, rating fluctuations will now be unified for all team members regardless of placing.

Matching Adjustments

– Frequent exits from the lobby will now be addressed by a temporary restriction on matching.

– For Rank Matches, we will also be observing the situation and considering a rating penalty for players who exit excessively

Resolution of Known Issues

– Fixed an issue where network or router environment could result in matching not being possible.

– Various adjustments and bug fixes have been implemented to ensure a smooth and enjoyable gameplay experience.

Phew! We told you it was a long one!

Do you spend much time on Ninjala? Let us know how you’ve been getting on in the comments.

Thanks to Ninjalaislit for the tip!

Due to an issue, our Fortnitemares Challenges have ended a day early. We apologize for the inconvenience and are working on a make good plan for affected players.
We will update everyone when we have more information.

— Fortnite Status (@FortniteStatus) November 2, 2020

Grab your broomsticks and ready your cauldrons – Halloween may be over, but the spooky season is only just beginning for EVE Echoes. The mobile game is running a Halloween event, The Crimson Harvest, which sees players investigate themed Festive Anomalies which appear throughout the universe. Developer NetEase is also shifting module designs in this update thanks to player feedback, but most players will want to get their spook on in the limited-time mode.

While many games have finished their Halloween events, and many players are looking forward to Chr*stmas (it’s still too early to mention it in our house), Echoes is continuing the Halloween tradition for as long as possible. From October 31 to November 10, EVE Echoes players can stumble across Crimson Harvest Anomalies such as the Haunted Ruins and Carnival at Cemetery. It’s unclear exactly what these anomalies do, but finding out and exploring is part of the fun, right?

You’ll also be able to get your hands on Haunted Supply Boxes, which could hold Halloween-exclusive skins (some of which could be permanent) and new modules. Keep your eyes peeled for Haunted Supply Box III, as this will be the one that offers new storyline Modules and permanent Halloween Skins. The seven new modules will be available through regular methods from November 11, when the event ends.

There are also some Limited-Time Crimson Harvest skins available in the New Eden Store, which are available by any other means. There are also four new skin boxes, which offer discounts if you were after a few different options.

The skins themselves are pumpkin-inspired, as you can probably tell by the orange and black colours and the flame-like effect.

If Halloween isn’t your thing and you’re more interested in the module designs, the 7 new Electronic Warfare Modules are as follows: Interdiction Sphere Launcher, Warp Disruption Field Generator, Warp Scrambler, Sensor Dampening, Target Painter, Tracking Disruptor, and Guidance Disruptor. You can find the full details of what they offer on the EVE Echoes update blog.

If you’re just getting started – or want a refresher – here’s our guide to the best EVE Echoes ships and our tips for EVE Echoes mining. Of course, if you still need convincing whether or not to pick the game up, check out our review, where we said that it “succeeds in channeling the classic Eve experience, while also streamlining for new players.”