15 answers
Rajveer
Student
Elmhurst, NY
2
Questions
Asked
1136 views
What do you do when you become a software developer and is it a good career to go for?
I am in high school. Currently thinking about my career and want to know more about software development. #software #software-development #software-engineer #technology #video-games
Login to comment
15 answers
Jerry Moloney
Manager
1
Answer
Dublin, County Dublin
Updated
Jerry’s Answer
Software engineering is such a wide field of study with many fantastic career opportunities...not just software development.
If you feel that working with computers, software, apps, etc. is something for you but are not sure of exactly what career role you should pursue, try to take a more general introduction or get some time working in a software company. Get to know the other roles that are involved in this industry that all require some knowledge of producing software e.g. designer, automation engineer, build engineers, devops, database engineers, project managers, etc.
If you feel that working with computers, software, apps, etc. is something for you but are not sure of exactly what career role you should pursue, try to take a more general introduction or get some time working in a software company. Get to know the other roles that are involved in this industry that all require some knowledge of producing software e.g. designer, automation engineer, build engineers, devops, database engineers, project managers, etc.
Joe Golio
System architect
10
Answers
Prior Lake, Minnesota
Updated
Joe’s Answer
Software development has been my career since 1978 and I've never regretted it for one moment. It's challenging, it's fulfilling, and you get to be as creative as an artist. There are no bounds to what you can accomplish in this career. Almost every industry in the world uses software in some way, shape or form, so if you're a go getter and you love to create things and help make people's lives better, this is the career for you.
You can even get started right now, as there are programming languages that you can learn on your own. This will not only give you a head start before you get to college, but it will also help you decide if you like it or not.
You can even get started right now, as there are programming languages that you can learn on your own. This will not only give you a head start before you get to college, but it will also help you decide if you like it or not.
Pawel Wasylyszyn
3
Answers
Updated
Pawel’s Answer
Start writing simple programs in any language. There is a huge demand for Java or Python developers and these languages are fairly simply to start with, so you might want to take some online training, do the exercises and then try to write some small tools, games etc. There are thousands of web forums (stackoverflow etc.) where you can find help if you are stuck with anything and most of your potential questions are already answered then : ) I would not recommend HTML, since it isn't a programming (rather descriptive) language.
The most important thing for you is to see if coding is fun for you - if isn't, you might want to consider another path of career. Like in all IT, you need to keep learning and growing your skills, so if writing code will turn out boring for you (it isn't fun for most people anyway!) it will become a nightmare and you will hate the job.
Give it a go and see!
Best of luck,
P
The most important thing for you is to see if coding is fun for you - if isn't, you might want to consider another path of career. Like in all IT, you need to keep learning and growing your skills, so if writing code will turn out boring for you (it isn't fun for most people anyway!) it will become a nightmare and you will hate the job.
Give it a go and see!
Best of luck,
P
Adam Noble
SW Engineering
1
Answer
Killaloe
Updated
Adam’s Answer
SW development is a huge genre. I would try and break it down to a manageable task. For example, have a good think over what interests you now, what motivates you, what are you passionate about, hobbies etc. Now think about how could you apply some basic software development to your interest or perhaps solve a problem. Research what are the the most trending beginner friendly development languages and find some free resources/courses to help you.
The most important part would be to find out if you enjoy the software development process itself.
I wish you good luck
The most important part would be to find out if you enjoy the software development process itself.
I wish you good luck
Upanshu Singhal
3
Answers
Updated
Upanshu’s Answer
A software developer write code in a programming language known to him / her for the assigned project. A software developer can develop code or produce products for organizations or individual users.
Career choice as Software Developer is very good in terms of job satisfaction, remaining on top of technology, earning good money etc.
Start learning a programming language of your choice or the one you find easier
Develop small small programs to solve day to day problems.
Career choice as Software Developer is very good in terms of job satisfaction, remaining on top of technology, earning good money etc.
Upanshu recommends the following next steps:
Mickael Rosenberg
Software Engineer
261
Answers
Bellevue, Washington
Updated
Mickael’s Answer
Hi Rajveer,
I will start with the second part of your question: Software development is a growing career; more and more companies automate their processes using computer. Would be to find the best target for a potential client, to teach cars how to drive, to store data or finding the best crop to grow based on some analysis of the ground are all applications of software development.
The career path of software developers is pretty broad. Most of us starts as "basic" developer or tester, and assigned easy projects to start with. Very often, fixing defects from existing software. As you grow in experience and knowledge, the paths become very broad. Some become managers, some become architect, some become technical experts. Some also become sales persons. It's really broad.
I will start with the second part of your question: Software development is a growing career; more and more companies automate their processes using computer. Would be to find the best target for a potential client, to teach cars how to drive, to store data or finding the best crop to grow based on some analysis of the ground are all applications of software development.
The career path of software developers is pretty broad. Most of us starts as "basic" developer or tester, and assigned easy projects to start with. Very often, fixing defects from existing software. As you grow in experience and knowledge, the paths become very broad. Some become managers, some become architect, some become technical experts. Some also become sales persons. It's really broad.
Swati Shah
Engineer
2
Answers
Austin, Texas
Updated
Swati’s Answer
Software Developer is a good field and has wide options for your career.
The most important thing for you is to see if you enjoy writing , compiling/debugging code .. If so, then you need to start learning about different programming languages and softwares. You can start with simple programs and learn a language of your choice.
Best of luck!
The most important thing for you is to see if you enjoy writing , compiling/debugging code .. If so, then you need to start learning about different programming languages and softwares. You can start with simple programs and learn a language of your choice.
Best of luck!
Joel Schnee
Sr. Director of Software Engineering
7
Answers
Purcellville, Virginia
Updated
Joel’s Answer
Great question! There is so much. As far as is it a good career question; my daughter recently graduated with a degree in software engineering and started her first job. I was very pleased when she showed this interest, which started because she wanted to design and write video games at an early age. Since then she has learned how understanding to write code and being a software developer can allow her do this, but also build communication products to help connect people, write medical software to help with healing people or build heads up displays for new space suits being developed to aid astronauts in space exploration (true story), the list goes on. There is so many ways to apply the skills you learn as a software engineer which opens you up to so many career opportunities. I've been doing this for 28 years now as well. Its rewarding, constantly educational and yes at times frustrating, but even those are experiences I appreciated being part of. To get started think about what interests you that learning to write code can help you with. That will help provide the motivation to learn and give you something that makes you want to figure out those early problems to tackle. Good luck Rajveer.
Michael Varteresian
Software Architect
5
Answers
Lexington, Massachusetts
Updated
Michael’s Answer
I started my career as an electrical engineer but after 15 years I moved to software. I had to write small programs as part of my electrical engineering work and found that I really liked writing them and wanted to learn more. There are many different types of software engineering. I like to write programs to analyze data and tools to diagnose software problems. I like to solve problems. Others like to write software the automates how software is built or how it is tested. You could specialize in user interface development (like web pages), preventing hackers form breaking into your application (security software) or automating factories. The choices are endless and you can learn as many different areas as you like. Of course, there are deadlines and sometimes you will have to write some software that you do not find very exciting but things are changing so fast that there will always be something new around the corner.
I agree with many of the other answers that you should try to write something to see if you like it. Every language is different but once you understand how things work they are not hard to learn. There are many very good tutorials that you can start with. Python is good starter language.
I agree with many of the other answers that you should try to write something to see if you like it. Every language is different but once you understand how things work they are not hard to learn. There are many very good tutorials that you can start with. Python is good starter language.
Gary Ma
Software Engineering
2
Answers
Boston, Massachusetts
Updated
Gary’s Answer
Depending your company's size and maturity, your work can be quite different. I have been working in a large well-established company as well as an early stage start up company. In start up company the pace is much faster. There is little mentoring/coaching. You need to figure out everything on your own, and you need to learn/do many things that you have never heard of before. Work hours are incredibly long. The technology is cutting-edge but the product quality is less stable. In a big company with mature software engineering structure, the pace is predictable. As a beginner you will have a mentor. You have some learning curve time. Your domain is typically focused, for example networking or UI area, but not both. The bar for quality is very high so you'd better do one thing well and precisely at a time. There are work/life balance in such environment.
Software engineering is a very good career in my opinion. I enjoy the technology, the benefit it brings to the world, the compensation, and the diverse workforce.
Software engineering is a very good career in my opinion. I enjoy the technology, the benefit it brings to the world, the compensation, and the diverse workforce.
Kala Sampathkumar
2
Answers
Updated
Kala’s Answer
Today's world is running on software. Definitely it is a great career choice. Software developers write code in the language that fits best for the situation and work they are trying to do. There are many computer languages which we can learn and become an expert.
You can start with simple programs and learn a language of your choice. The languages like "R" and "Python" are very flexible and easy to use. Once you get the hang of writing code and enjoying the process of compiling/debugging and seeing the result, it gets very easy.
You can start with simple programs and learn a language of your choice. The languages like "R" and "Python" are very flexible and easy to use. Once you get the hang of writing code and enjoying the process of compiling/debugging and seeing the result, it gets very easy.
Yuan Li
Software engineer
2
Answers
Suzhou, Jiangsu, China
Updated
Yuan’s Answer
Sure, it is a good career if you are interested in it. Thinking about you can just create a product which might be used by millions of people by yourself. Software is everywhere now, you will always find the area you are interested in.
Jagadeesh Raju
Software Engineer
3
Answers
Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
Updated
Jagadeesh’s Answer
Start with creating web pages. You need to understand HTML, it's simple... Please get started and create your own page.
Gilberto Osuna Gonzalez
Software Engineer
5
Answers
Pflugerville, Texas
Updated
Gilberto’s Answer
In my opinion, a Software Developer is a good career choice. Is a high-demand area, also in the future. Knowing a coding language is very important these days, and is becoming a must-have skill.
It has its pros and cons as any other career choice, but the most important thing here is if you enjoy writing code? This is very important because being in a profession like software development can be challenging, you will have good and bad times, but is part of it, like any other career. This is something to consider and in this case, I would suggest you get involved in coding training to determine if is really what you want to do.
It has its pros and cons as any other career choice, but the most important thing here is if you enjoy writing code? This is very important because being in a profession like software development can be challenging, you will have good and bad times, but is part of it, like any other career. This is something to consider and in this case, I would suggest you get involved in coding training to determine if is really what you want to do.
John Pu
Engineering
2
Answers
Shanghai, China
Updated
John’s Answer
Software Developer is a great career in my opinion. You can work on multiple industries as the software developer since software is everywhere. It has been one of the hottest areas in job market for many years. But it doesn't necessarily mean software developer is a good career just because of high demanding, personal interest is the most important factor to consider when we choose our career.
It you are interested in software development, you can start to practice on programming with Java or C / C++ language. There are tons of material about Java / C / C++ programming which can be easily found through internet. You can also take some training classes to help you accumulate deeper knowledge on the foundation of the software, like Data Structure, Compiler, Operating System etc.
Pls bear in mind that software is evolving pretty fast, learning capability / adaptability is very important to be success in software industry.
It you are interested in software development, you can start to practice on programming with Java or C / C++ language. There are tons of material about Java / C / C++ programming which can be easily found through internet. You can also take some training classes to help you accumulate deeper knowledge on the foundation of the software, like Data Structure, Compiler, Operating System etc.
Pls bear in mind that software is evolving pretty fast, learning capability / adaptability is very important to be success in software industry.