On this blog, we cover a lot of topics about how to break into programming.  So that practically begs us to answer the question, “what makes a good software engineer?” Well, let’s answer that question today. What Makes a Good Software Engineer: The Short Answer In fact, let’s answer it briefly, right out of the gate.  This will set the stage for the more detailed answer below, where I’ll offer 13 different traits that will help you become a good engineer. A good software engineer is someone who is not only competent at writing code, but also competent in everything else required to build, deliver, and ship valuable software.  A…

If you’re contemplating a career switch into programming, you’re probably wondering what it’s like. And I don’t mean in the existential sense. Rather, on a day-to-day kind of basis, what’s it like? Well, today we’ll take a look at what programmers do in the office. What Do Programmers Do at Work? The Short Version If you’re looking for an abbreviated answer or a summary, I can certainly provide that. After all, I spent a lot of years working as a programmer in an office. So I can speak at length and summarize quickly. So, what do programmers do at work? Well, not surprisingly, they spend a lot of time programming…

The posts that I write for this blog are aimed at answering questions non-programmers and aspiring programmers have about being a programmer. This results in me answering some questions that seem perfectly natural. But it also results in questions that surprise me. “What do programmers wear to work?” is one of the surprising ones. I can answer this question in a paragraph. But I can also answer it with an entire post. Let’s start with a paragraph. What Do Programmers Wear to Work? The answer is that it really varies. Asking what programmers wear to work is like asking what people who work corporate jobs wear to work. On average,…

“What is a full stack developer” is a question that mystifies non-programmers.  I understand this because I run a content agency that pairs techies with non-technical editors.  The term comes up, and those not steeped in tech kind of squint at you if you say that and ask, “what….?” What Is a Full Stack Developer?  The Short Version So first, let’s give the short, direct answer to this question.  A “full stack” developer is a software developer with a general enough skill set to build all required components for a working piece of software.  They can handle the database, the programming logic, and the user interface, and they put it…

Is a software engineer the same as a software developer? It’s an understandable question. When you’re on the outside looking into the software industry, it can seem like we programmers (software engineers, software developers, etc.) have a dizzying array of titles. And we do. So, what does it all mean? What’s the difference? Is “software engineer” just a synonym for “software developer”? Is a Software Engineer the Same As a Software Developer? Yes. Full stop. These are the same. Different companies have different title preferences, but the titles describe the same thing: people who write code for a living.   Sure, being a software developer at one company will always be…

What education is needed to become a programmer? If you want to become a lawyer, you go to law school.  If you want to become a doctor, you go to med school.  So if you want to be a programmer, you go to… programming school?  Meaning, you get a computer science degree or two, right? Well, not so much.  It’s a little more complicated than that. In this post, we’ll take a detailed look at the paths to becoming a programmer, focusing on what education you need, how much of it, and where to get it. What Education Is Needed to Become a Programmer?  The Short Answer The question of…

Today’s question is an interesting one that people outside of the programming world ask me a fair amount.  Loosely speaking, this question is one of how programmers interact with the rest of the team. But here’s the thing. That question typically comes to me in the form of many more specific questions:  Should programmers test software?  Or how does project management work with the Dev Team? So let’s today take these questions in aggregate.  Who are the rest of the folks that programmers interact with?  And how does the division of responsibility work? What Are These Other Roles? Before we can really address that, though, we need to take a…

Should programmers blog? I get this question a lot, probably because I’m both a blogger and a programmer.  And because of those two things, you can probably guess my answer.  But my reasoning goes beyond my own experience, and I’m going to go into detail about the points that might explain why. But First, Let’s Answer the Question. Should Programmers Blog? Yes.  As a programmer, starting and maintaining a blog will be a significant boost to your career and to your personal development.  It may get you out of your comfort zone and require some extra effort, but it is unquestionably worth doing. Let’s unpack this a little and get into specifics. …