Software engineers use computer programs to create applications that solve problems for businesses. As a software engineer, you MUST focus on the needs of the business and how you can use your programming skills to solve problems the business may face. 

I’ll go over the 7 Software Engineering skills that every programmer must have to be a successful programmer. I will split these skills into two different categories: soft skills and technical skills. 

Soft Skills

What do programmers actually do? When you think about programming as a job, you usually think it’s a person that writes code for 8 hours a day. 

This is simply not the case. 

You are expected to understand how the business operates and how you can use your programming skills to bring value to the company. And how do you bring value to the company? 

By making current business processes run more efficiently. 

Your job is beyond a software engineer. You are a business solutions provider. Understanding this early on in your career will set you apart from other software engineers. 

Problem Solving

As a programmer, you’re going to have to be a good problem solver. 

I’m not talking about solving complex algorithms or optimizing a function to perform at peak efficiency. 

I’m talking about real world problems that most businesses face. For instance, the call centers at the company I worked for are getting hammered with inquiries from customers. These inquiries could range from simple yes-no questions to questions that require the help desk receptionist to pull data from the system. 

This sounds completely normal initially, however if a business with millions of members that’s calling the call centers on a daily basis will quickly turn into a big problem. 

The solution, being the software engineer that I am, is to create an automated chat bot that handles fairly easy and repetitive questions. While the time it takes to develop such a bot takes time and resources, the bot will pay back the company many times over since it lessens the burden of customer service departments, allowing the company to allocate resources to other areas in need. 

Problem solving is an essential skill to have as a developer. Using your programming skills to help solve problems will bring immense value to your company that sets you up to becoming the software engineer that every company wants. 

Communication

The biggest myth is that communication for software engineers is one-way: code exactly what is required in the ticket handed to you by your manager. 

While traditionally this would have been the case, software engineers are more than just coders now. 

Communication is absolutely essential for software engineers. You will have to communicate with business owners and stakeholders, people who aren’t technically savvy but are responsible for running the business. 

You will learn soon enough that as a software engineer, you have the capability to be knowledgeable in all aspects of the business. 

A lot of times, the business may not fully understand their needs and requirements. While there are product managers and project managers who handle this, it will ultimately come down you when it is time to execute the project. 

There will be roadblocks the business may not know ahead of time and it will come down to you to let everyone know about it. 

There will be upsides and downsides for every feature request the business provides. It will be up to you to lay out the pros and cons of moving forward with such requests. 

The biggest takeaway is that as a software engineer, you have the highest value in the company because you can understand other people’s workflow but not everyone can understand yours. Use this to your advantage by becoming more communicative.  

Leadership

Software engineers of all levels, whether you are junior or senior, can demonstrate characteristics of leadership. Leadership is more than just your years of experience in the industry. It’s about becoming a professional.

How do you become a professional? Go above and beyond what you are told to do. Surprise your boss by taking on more responsibility than you’ve been assigned to.  

Know the software that you are working on and know it deeply. Understand not just the component that you are working on, but how it is combined with other components. Software engineers are used to doing what they are told. Managers and Seniors aren’t perfect since they haven’t dived deep enough into the task. They need you to do that. 

Once you excel at your own task, you start to gain the trust of coworkers. They can come to you for information and clarification. On top of that, get along with your coworkers. If you can provide value to your coworkers, you’ll gain the reputation of being a great leader. 

Overall, act like a team leader and upper management will make you one.

Technical Skills

You can be a great employee with good communication skills and strong leadership skills, but the technical nature of software engineering requires you to be, well, technical. 

You can look the part, but you gotta do the part as well. Saying that you will finish the project is one thing, but actually finishing the project requires you to get your hands dirty. Luckily, there are a few technical skills I believe every programmer must have to be successful.  

Programming Languages

Before you think to yourself “Well, this is completely obvious! Why are you wasting my time!”. I’d like to go a little further on this topic. 

Yes software engineers are supposed to know programming languages. The question is which is the best one? 

C# and Java

In this post, I explain why C# should be your first programming language. However, the most important thing to keep in mind is to pick a language that’s been around in the industry that’s tried and true. Companies are hesitant to implement newer languages and would rather hire someone that can maintain legacy code.

Because while newer languages such as Swift and Golang are attractive programming languages, they are too new and have not developed enough of a stable community for reliable support

Data Structures and Algorithms

Data structures and algorithms are extremely vital for solving real world problems. I, unfortunately, learned this the hard way. Being self-taught, I didn’t put too much effort into efficiency.

As I got more experienced as a software engineer, I tackled bigger projects. And projects come with bigger data. I was either running out of memory when processing my data or the processing time took way too long for the client. 

Depending on what type of data you’re dealing with, you’ll use the appropriate data structure. For instance, if you have a set of unique values and accessing these values are convenient for you, use a dictionary.If you are processing data from beginning to end, using a list would be best. 

Furthermore, understand if your code is O(n) or O(1). I know this looks intimidating especially if you’re self-taught. Understanding how efficient your code runs is essential to solving real world problems. 

Database and SQL

Almost everyone in the technology field knows traditional databases and SQL, from business analysts to data scientists. So it’s no exception that programmers should know it as well. 

A lot of times, businesses will request data from you which you will have to query. Additionally, you’ll be asked to pull the data on a consistent basis, which you will then have to automate. 

There are lots of databases out there, but traditional relational databases such as SQL is all you’ll need to know. SQL has been around for a while and will continue to be around for a while since companies will stick to technology that’s stable. 

Cloud Computing

A lot of companies are switching over to hosting their applications on the cloud. Which is way cloud computing is something that you’ll absolutely need. 

I recommend getting a certificate for Azure or AWS. Not only are you expected to utilize these platforms, but understand how to host your applications from beginning to end. A lot of senior engineers are still new to cloud computing, so this is an opportunity for you to be a step ahead of everyone else.

Final Thoughts

To become a successful developer, you must have both the soft skills and technical skills. Soft skills and technical skills take time. Focus on improving on one area at a time while working towards developing social skills. 

Bring value to your company and to your coworkers and you’ll be more fulfilled knowing that you are an important piece of the company’s success.