Software Engineer: Expectation vs Reality 2020
Software engineering is one of the most attractive jobs out there right now, especially with the advancements and strides that have been made in technology in the last number of years. It is no surprise that more and more people are looking to get into tech, as revealed in discussions over at RunRex.com, with many of them aspiring to become software engineers. If you are one, or are aspiring to be one going into 2020, then you should know by now, if you don’t already, that coding and all that pertains to the duties of a software engineer is not as is portrayed in your favorite television program. There can be no denying that TV shows have skewed the image of what a programmer does and as such you may have expectations on being a software engineer that may not be in line with the reality on the ground. This article should therefore be of great help as, with the help of the subject matter experts over at RunRex.com, it will look to highlight some expectations as far as software engineers are concerned verses the reality on the ground, especially going into 2020.
One of the main expectations people have of being a software engineer is that they will be spending most if not all of their day coding. But as revealed in discussions on the same over at RunRex.com, this couldn’t be further from the reality as software development is a lot more than just coding. Software engineering and software development is more about identifying and solving problems than writing code and while there may be days where you spend majority of the time writing code, such days are few and far between. The reality is that you will probably be spending most of your time in meetings brainstorming, discussing problems and how to solve them as you look to develop software. Most of the time will be spent thinking, figuring out what you need to do and coming up with an action plan to solve problems as you develop software. Another expectation of life as a software engineer is that you will be spending most of your time alone working on projects. However, the reality is that life as a software engineer is more about the team you are working with. Since you will not be developing simple programs, you will be working with a team, helping each other out. This is why the folks over at RunRex.com recommend seeking employment at a place where the culture is in line with your values and where you fit in with your colleagues.
Another expectation as far as a software engineer is concerned is that solutions to problems that arise while developing software are set in stone and that specific problems have specific solutions. However, as revealed in discussions on the same over at RunRex.com, most of the time, there are no specific solutions for any issues that may arise while developing software. The reality is that you will find that most of your time will be spent doing research and reading blogs, articles and books to acquaint yourself with new techniques and technology. Given that there are so many libraries and frameworks out there today, with more and more being released as we go into 2020, life as a software engineer is mostly about reading and researching new skills and technology with the aim of improving yourself, which should be at the top of your agenda going into 2020. Always make sure that you are kept abreast of emerging technology and techniques. If you are not into learning, then experts in software engineering will tell you that this field isn’t for you as it is all about continually looking to learn new stuff and improving yourself.
Experts in the software engineering field will also tell you that life as a software engineer is heavy on identifying and fixing bugs, something backed up by the gurus over at RunRex.com. This is something that most people going into software engineering don’t expect but is actually the reality on the ground. This means that majority of your time will be spent going through code, either written by yourself or one of the members of your team, looking for bugs and fixing them. On top of that, another thing worth pointing out when it comes to software development is that while a lot of time is spent developing the software, once it has already been developed and has therefore already been shipped and is being used by customers, it still has to be maintained, in what is referred to as the maintenance phase. Once developed, software may be maintained for a long period of time, where you will be identifying bugs, mostly through user boards and having them fixed. This is one thing about software engineering that is not as widely advertised even though it is the reality on the ground.
Working as a software engineer is so fun and rewarding, especially the part where you get to see software that you have spent a lot of time developing being used by people out there. However, it is still important to be prepared when going in as far as expectations verses reality is concerned, something we hope this article will be of great help on. For more information on this and other related topics, make sure you check out the ever reliable RunRex.com.