Yes. There’s no easy way of saying it, but Software Engineering has a high barrier to entry. Software Engineering could be a smooth transition for you if you were into computers at a young age. On the other hand, it might scare off those with no coding experience or those who aren’t tech savvy. But worry not! There are many resources online to help you get started (including this blog!).
Software Engineering is a unique profession that sets it apart from other roles in tech. A developer with all the coding skills in the world, but has no interest in the business logic may not do well in Software Engineering. Likewise, a person who focuses too much on the business side and no experience coding would not be a Software Engineer at all.
There’s nothing stoping you from becoming a Software Engineer. The hardest part about becoming a Software Engineer is programming. Some may not like the idea of being in front of a computer for hours. In that case the career is difficult and might not be for you.
But if you’re someone who is tech savvy, problem solving oriented and are willing to put in the work to learn how to program, then Software Engineering may not be as hard after all. The challenging part is learning a programming language from scratch. You have nearly unlimited resources online to help you learn how to program. If you wanted to, you could. No one should say it’s difficult to learn how to program. It’s the matter of how much effort you put into it.
Characteristics of a Software Engineering
Tinkering
Software Engineers like to tinker around with the application. Curious as to what happens when you remove a piece of code? Do it and find out. Wonder what would happen if you change the behavior on a web page? Try it and see what happens. Wonder what data is sent when you submit a form? Pull up the Chrome developer to find out.
As being self-taught, I played around with web pages (a lot!) and also failing along the way. After I get something small to work, I would move on to the next thing. I did this a lot when I was younger, slowly achieving small accomplishments. As I do this, I would eventually build the foundation that helped me become the Software Engineer I am today, even though I had no plans of becoming one.
Continuously testing and not afraid of failing
Testing and failing sort of goes along with tinkering. You are not afraid to test the code you just written. You are not anxious when an error occurs because you know that there will ALWAYS be errors. If an error pops up, you google the error and slowly work your way to a solution.
Debugging problems
You are curious as to WHY a problem occurs. The ability to debug and pinpoint the where the problem is is a valuable skill to have for Software Engineering. Modern web applications have many components connecting to each other. Even if you don’t know where the problem occurs, if you can narrow down to which component is failing, that is a valuable skill.
Googling
Knowing how to Google might sound obvious, but experience developers know how to sort out the information that doesn’t matter. You are not Googling to find the answer to your question: You are Googling to find better questions. As you search for the solution, you’ll see that other developers have the same questions as you do.
Conclusion: Is Software Engineering hard?
If you want to become a Software Engineer, it’s ideal if you enjoy spending free time learning about programming and working on web projects. Start with a simple web project. Pull an existing project and make it your own. Fortunately, there is nothing stopping you from becoming a Software Engineer if you really wanted to. If the hardest part of becoming a Software Engineer is programming, then it may not be hard after all.
-Bao
People also ask…
Why You Should Become a .NET Developer