So, you have decided you want to get into software engineering and development as a profession. But, maybe there are certain parts of the job you don’t particularly enjoy, and that is giving you pause about continuing on the path. Well, you are in luck, because, more likely than not, there is a specific role for you.
Software engineering has grown to such a degree that specialities exist! I’ll do my best to list and explain what some of those different specialities are. I hope it will help you find your niche as a software engineer and where you want to progress to.
Front-end Engineers
Engineers who specialize in the front end are the ones who are building the part of a program that a user sees and interacts with. This encompasses all visual elements from the large elements like titles and pictures to small ones such as a button or toggle. They are responsible for not only building these elements but also ensuring they’re visually similar across browsers and devices. If you have an eye for detail, that will definitely be a great asset here. Another bonus is that most changes you make will be immediately displayed as you make them!
Back-end Engineers
Back-end engineers are those who focus on the logic of the application, the under-the-hood code, if you will. They are focused on how data will flow and be transformed and maintained through the system. They are usually responsible for building Application Programming Interfaces, more commonly known as APIs. But, they also integrate third-party APIs as well as email systems and databases.
Full-stack Engineers
Full-stack engineers are those that can move effectively between both back-end and front-end engineering. They are able to tackle both and are good utility players on development teams because they can fill in any gaps a team might have.
Testing Engineers
Testing engineers are engineers that focus on validating the quality of an application. Their work includes creating test plans, running manual tests, creating and running automated tests. They are focused mainly on breaking the application in any way they can, which is good because then the team can go fix the bugs. They aren’t only focused on breaking the application they can also build as well as test things.
DevOps Engineers
Engineers who work with the technologies that are employed to deploy and maintain an application are what are referred to as DevOps engineers. They are focused the infrastructures whether it is the servers that are used, the database systems i.e. SQL, postgres etc, and the resources that are used for those. DevOps engineers will spend a decent amount of time working with systems like AWS and Azure.
These are just some of the different specialities that are available in the world of software engineering. There are definitely more out there and as the field develops and grows more specialities will likely spring forth. Who knows you might be the one to create a whole new speciality. Hopefully from this article you will be able to find a speciality that speaks to you and are further motivated to dive into this world!