Do you want to learn how to become a software engineer but don’t have the time to spend four years in college studying computer science? Good news is that you can work as a software developer without having a college degree!
What Is a Software Engineer?
A software engineer is a person who creates the source code for software applications (video games, operating systems, apps, features, robots, etc.)
read also: Enterprise Software: The Ultimate Guide & 7 Tools You Need in 2022
💻 What does a software engineer do?
- Design, build, and test software applications
- Understand requirements and solve problems using coding/technology
- Use programming languages to turn instructions into something a computer can understand
- Might code something from scratch, or collaborate with a team of software developers, or improve/debug existing code
- Might need to work with other professionals, e.g. UX designer, graphic designer, product manager, technical writer
How to get a software developer job without a computer science degree
1. Learn a popular tech stack
- Web frontend development (HTML, CSS, JS, React)
- Native app development (Kotlin/Java/C#/C++/Swift & more)
- Backend Development (Any programming language + SQL/NoSQL database)
- Cloud computing (AWS/Azure/Firebase etc)
read also: 100 Most Popular Emojis List and Their Meaning in 2022
2. Learn basic software design
- Watch software design tutorials
- Read design books
- Read code of good open-source projects on github
3. Build open-source projects
Once you know the basics, it’s time to build awesome stuff
- You can build clones (social media clone, ecommerce clone etc) or something unique and put your code on github
- Do not copy any tutorial code 1:1 Build your own thing, you’ll learn a lot.
4. Contribute to existing open-source projects on github
This step is optional but contributing to good open
- source projects will give credibility to your profile
- Find an active repo accepting contributions and try to fix a bug. You can find issues in the issues section.
read also: Best Medium Alternatives for Reading and Publishing
5. Network on LinkedIn / Twitter
Now you have a solid portfolio to stand against a degree. Make a resume and start networking
- Connect with recruiters & send your resume if they’re hiring
- Network with engineers at companies you wanna work for
- Apply directly in the jobs section.
Software engineer vs. software developer
What differs a software engineer from a software developer? Actually, no. The phrases are essentially interchangeable, and businesses frequently consider them to mean the same thing.
If you want to find the best results when looking for a software engineering career, be sure to search and look at ads for both “software engineer” and “software developer.” Even some businesses use the term “software development engineer” to describe the position.
