How to Become a Software Engineer (2023 Guide)

The best first step if you want to become a Software Engineer is to learn software engineering fundamentals, and for most people interested in this career, that begins with code.

Although Software Engineers will often leave the bulk of the programming work to Developers and other experts on their team, it’s still crucial that a Software Engineer be able to examine the code at any point in the development process to solve problems or spot errors.

Someone looking at becoming a Software Engineer might start with one programming language – perhaps HTML or Python to start – before moving on to others. Ultimately, the more programming languages a Software Engineer has under their belt, the better.

Studying software engineering principles isn’t just about learning programming languages, but also about underlying principles of design and development.

For instance, Software Engineers should understand not just object-oriented programming languages like Python and JavaScript, but also possess a deeper understanding of what object-oriented programming is on a theoretical level. Other fundamental software engineering concepts include using data structures and algorithms, understanding the software life cycle, and learning how to use project management tools and methodologies to ensure software development projects stay on track.

Those interested in gaining this background and becoming a Software Engineer have lots of options. Some may choose to pursue a degree in software engineering (which can be attained as the bachelor’s degree or master’s degree levels), a computer science degree, or to attend a shorter bootcamps, courses, or other software engineering programs to fill in gaps in their educational background.

For those with some technical skills but little programming experience looking for a new career in software engineering, a coding bootcamp might be an especially appealing option. An immersive coding bootcamp could have an aspiring Software Engineer coding like a pro in virtually all modern programming languages in a relatively short period of time. Especially if you have an educational background that’s close to software engineering – for instance, a bachelor’s degree in computer science – a coding bootcamp might be all you need to pivot your career path.