Software engineers are responsible for researching, designing, implementing, and supporting software solutions. Learn more about a software engineer's responsibilities in this introductory guide.
Here’s what we’ll cover:
There are various different types of software engineering roles and titles, but a software engineer’s responsibilities remain relatively static across various designations.
Learn more about how to become a software engineer here.
A software engineer’s job scope is often determined by a project, product, or engineering manager.
At the highest level, a software engineer is responsible for researching, designing, implementing, and supporting software solutions to various problems. How they actually execute on those responsibilities is heavily influenced by a myriad of outside factors, such as how far along a product is in development, how large their team is, and the programmatic infrastructures that the software engineer is proficient in.
A software engineer’s duties and responsibilities fall into four main categories. These loosely come together into a process called the “Waterfall Model”—one of the first, original approaches used to complete software engineering projects throughout the course of a software development lifecycle. Since then, other methodologies such as the Agile framework have gained popularity.
Ready to switch careers to software engineering?
Springboard offers a comprehensive software engineering bootcamp. You’ll work with a one-on-one mentor to learn key aspects of front-end web development, back-end web development, databases, and data structures and algorithms. Modules include learning resources, practice exercises, projects, and career-related coursework.
Check out Springboard's Software Engineering Career Track to see if you qualify.
Not quite ready to dive into a software engineering bootcamp?
Springboard also offers a Software Engineering Prep Course, where you can learn the foundational web development skills (HTML, CSS, and JavaScript) needed to pass the technical skills survey for the Software Engineering Career Track.
Download our software engineering salary guide
This 21-page guide breaks down the software engineering career path and how to optimize salary figures.
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