Trade organizations offer professionals a way to meet new colleagues, find out about job opportunities, get discounts and learn more about the field they've chosen. Developers have access to tons of different developer networks -- you've got the Android Developers' blog, the iOS developer network, Windows has one and RIM does too, but wouldn't it be nice to have access to tips and tricks for all those, in one place?

That's the goal of the Application Developers Alliance, a newly formed non-profit trade organization. Their goal, according to Jake Ward, head of communications, is to be the voice of the development industry, agnostic of process/language and platform, globally. The Alliance is free to join (for the time being), has no age restrictions and hopes to offer more discounts beyond the ones they're currently offering, which include some savings on Rackspace hosting and app dev training courses.

Check out the site -- the Alliance Network functions like LinkedIn and allows you to communicate with other developers, share tips, view message boards and search job postings.

Ward said the organization does not aim to discredit any work others have done in the past -- in fact, he said, he starts off most interactions with Meetups and other organizations by acknowledging the great work they've done so far and then asking how the Alliance can help.

As of right now, the Alliance has about 2300 members, many of are based in the US, but approximately 700 are based internationally.

Will you join the Alliance? Do you think there is a need for this?

To learn more visit the website, follow them on Twitter and like them on Facebook.