So you want to be a software developer? (version 2.0)
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This document provides advice for someone interested in becoming a software developer. It discusses the author's background and career in programming. It describes what software engineers do, including designing, developing, reviewing, testing, deploying, and documenting code. The software development life cycle is explained. Challenges of the field like fixing bugs are mentioned. Advice is provided such as taking a public speaking course, creating projects to showcase skills, getting real work experience through internships or volunteering, maintaining an online presence, and exercising to balance the sedentary nature of the work.
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So you want to be a software developer? (version 2.0)
- 1. So you want to be a software developer? (version 2.0) Tim Callaghan CrunchTime! tmcallaghan@gmail.com @tmcallaghan @acmebench
- 3. “Find something you love to do and you’ll never have to work a day in your life.” Harvey MacKay
- 4. “Don’t do something you hate for a living.” Someone on Twitter
- 5. About me Born in 1969 (before we landed on the moon) I Loved computers as a young child (late 70s) My parents supported my interest ($$$) I taught myself how to program when I was 12 (there were no other options) I’ve been programming for 34 years now
- 6. A little perspective… I was a high school freshman in 1983 Things that [practically] didn’t exist: Cellphones Apple’s Macintosh Internet
- 7. If I had B.Y.O.D. Kaypro “luggable” 26 pounds! No battery No hard drive 80 characters per line 64K RAM http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaypro#Hardware
- 8. When I was your age... 1982: Timex Sinclair-1000 ($149) 2KB RAM, 3.25MHz CPU, No Storage 1983: TRS-80 Model III ($2000 @ Radio Shack) 32KB RAM, 2.03MHz CPU, Dual Floppy 1984: IBM PC/XT ($3500) 128KB RAM, 2.03MHz CPU, 10MB HD Compilers cost serious $$$
- 9. Times have changed! Hardware is cheap Windows is inexpensive Linux is free Languages are plentiful and mostly free Especially for students Servers are almost free AWS (Amazon EC2) will give you one!
- 10. My career Started college at Northeastern (1987) First co-op job at Boston City Hall (1988) Graduated from Umass/Lowell (1992) Big Company (IBT, 1992-1999) Startup (CrunchTime!, 1999-2008) Startup (VoltDB, 2009-2011) Startup (Tokutek, 2011-2015) Medium Company (CrunchTime!, 2015-present)
- 11. What do I do? CrunchTime! makes software for restaurants We help our customers answer the following questions: How much bacon to prepare in Saturday morning? What items should be removed from the menu? How profitable is the double cheeseburger? How many cashiers should work on Thursday night? Is a particular restaurant following the recipe? How much beef needs to be ordered for next week?
- 12. Order Product Receive Order Daily Prep Customer Order Prepare Food Take Payment Inventory Product Each of these requires a lot of software development
- 13. What is it like to program? Kind of like solving math word problems Start with a requirement (describes needs) Come up with one or more potential solutions Research, select language(s) and technologies, write code, perform database design, check performance and correctness, …
- 14. What do software engineers really “do”? Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) Design Develop Review Test Deploy Document
- 15. What do software engineers “do”? Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) Design Develop Review Test Deploy Document Plan out the effort, especially if it is large.
- 16. What do software engineers “do”? Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) Design Develop Review Test Deploy Document Write the code: front-end back-end database (fun)
- 17. What do software engineers “do”? Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) Design Develop Review Test Deploy Document Present your work, receive feedback, change code as needed.
- 18. What do software engineers “do”? Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) Design Develop Review Test Deploy Document Make sure code works as expected, try to break it.
- 19. What do software engineers “do”? Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) Design Develop Review Test Deploy Document Install or upgrade, it’s live!
- 20. What do software engineers “do”? Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) Design Develop Review Test Deploy Document Explain your work so others can modify it later.
- 21. What else might you do? Fixing Bugs - almost everyone starts here Hiring/Interviewing Mentoring Support Infrastructure Desktops / Servers / Networking
- 22. Where does the time go? 5% 60% 5% 15% 5% 10% Design Develop Review Test Deploy Document
- 24. Where do you want to work? Startup More hours More hands-on More stress Stock options Creativity Big Company Bureaucracy! More job security? Formal training Retirement account Rigidity
- 25. Or do it yourself? Your own startup Raise $$$ (friends and family) Or Kickstarter or Microsoft or Others Way more hours Way more hands-on Way more stress
- 27. Advice # 1 Take a course in public speaking I did in 11th grade I was scared to do a 30 second speech Most programmers can’t/won’t/don’t It opens the door to many opportunities
- 28. Advice # 2 Create something you can show others Make a website, “mod” a game, contribute to an open-source project, whatever Very helpful for first job Stand out!
- 29. Advice # 3 Get something real on your resume As soon as possible Like, this summer! And every summer until you become a full- time employee Volunteer, intern, co-op
- 30. Advice # 4 Carefully construct an online existence www.stackoverflow.com Ask and answer! Forums, list servers, github, launchpad Also, remember that things stay on the internet forever Both the good and the bad
- 31. Advice # 5 Get up and exercise! Programmers sit, A LOT! Get some sun, go for a walk, be social