PathSource - SOFTWARE DEVELOPER: Project Management & Coding

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SOFTWARE DEVELOPER: Project Management & Coding

About this video

Jacob, a software developer, spends his typical day planning his projects with software architects as well as coding. He tells us that the difference between a software developer and a programmer is that a software developer is something of a project manager as well and gets a big picture view of the program and the process.

Degree: Computer Science

Job Title: Software Developer

Employer: Northwestern University

Job Summary: Software Developers

Job Description

Software developers are the creative minds behind computer programs. Some develop the applications that allow people to do specific tasks on a computer or other device. Others develop the underlying systems that run the devices or control networks. Many software developers work for computer systems design and related services firms or software publishers. Others work in computer and electronic product manufacturing industries.

Software developers typically do the following:
- Analyze users’ needs, then design, test, and develop software to meet those needs
- Recommend software upgrades for customers' existing programs and systems
- Design each piece of the application or system and plan how the pieces will work together
- Create flowcharts and other models that instruct programmers how to write the software’s code
- Ensure that the software continues to function normally through software maintenance and testing
- Document every aspect of the application or system as a reference for future maintenance and upgrades
- Collaborate with other computer specialists to create optimum software

On-the-Job Training

Variable, depending on whether or not you get a degree. It's possible to learn development skills by building applications using a range of free resources on the internet.

Additional Info

Many software developers work for computer systems design and related services firms or software publishers. Some work in computer and electronic product manufacturing industries. Some developers telecommute (work away from the office).

Quick Facts

Average salary

National Statistic Change Location

Confirm

$60,000 - $145,000

Projected Job Growth

25 to 30 percent

Typical schedule

Full-time, Long hours, Irregular

Typical workplace

Office, Remote, Indoor, Home

Personal Qualities

Detail oriented, Patience, Problem solving skills, Creativity, Analytical skills, Technical skills, Mathematical skills

Educational Path

Education Requirement

Bachelor's degree

Recommended Education Degree

Bachelor's degree

Recommended Majors

Computer Programming
Computer Science
Systems Engineering
Mathematics

Related Careers

Website Developer
Graphic Designer
Game Developer
Computer and Information Research Scientists
Computer and Information Systems Managers
Computer Hardware Engineers
Computer Programmers
Computer Support Specialists
Computer Systems Analysts
Database Administrators
Information Security Analysts
Web Developers
and Computer Network Architects
Mathematicians

View Detailed Career Data

PathSource provides free English transcriptions for each of our informational interviews on video which will appear here after you have signed in. Our advanced transcriptions are highly interactive. They scroll down automatically as the video plays and users can jump to a specific part of the video by clicking on any word in the transcript.

For a small fee, we offer transcriptions in different languages, making PathSource a great tool for English Language Learners. This feature is currently available for customers in the education field only.

Please contact us at support@pathsoruce.com if you have any questions or would like to get a price quote for advanced transcripts offered in a second language.

P3.instances[0].transcript.parse_transcript_data({"transcript":"I'm a software developer at Northwestern University. And a software developer writes code. But it's different than basically a computer programmer in that we get a little project management mixed in, that we deal with full projects rather than certain pieces of code to design. And right now I'm working on several projects. But it's nice to be able to see every aspect of the project, versus just writing some code. So as for a software developer, I definitely prefer that over a programmer. A typical day I go to a lot of meetings actually. Because software developers do more than just code. We do a lot of planning. We work with the architects who do most of the planning. But we have a key aspect in actually the whole planning process. And that's kind of fulfilling, to me at least. We go to a lot of conferences like this. And we actually do do a lot of coding when we get the chance to. But other than that, being an employee at Northwestern University, I'm running all over campus. Because our offices are split up. Sometimes I'll have jobs at the Chicago campus. Sometimes I'll have jobs at the Evanston campus to do. So kind of all over the place. It doesn't get boring, that's for sure. I started at Purdue University in mechanical engineering. I did two years of it. I didn't know anything about computers really. I had played around with some computer things, but I'd never really programmed anything. But in the mechanical engineering degree you had to take a few computer science classes. So I kind of took those classes and ran with it. And wrote and built my own home automation system to control my whole dorm with my computer. So everyone just told me, why don't you just switch to CS? Obviously you like this. You spend your spare time not doing mechanical engineering related things, you do it doing CS related things. And I thought, hey, why not? So I switched to CS. Couldn't be happier. It added an extra year on my degree. But, hey, it was worth it. Because I love my job now. I wouldn't change it if I could. What I wish I knew in high school, and the beginning of college actually, that I do know now is time management. For a CS degree it requires a lot of time to be put in. But I was actually told this in high school, and I should have listened to it. It took me until I was two years into CS to start listening to it. But treat your schooling like a job. And that's what I finally learned. And aside from struggling, and procrastinating, and waiting to do projects at the last minute, I would in between class just start working on homework. And if I didn't have class that day at all, which I actually scheduled some of my classes so I'd have days free in between and solid classes on other days, I scheduled it that way so that I could have those days to just work from 9:00 to 5:00 on school work. And if I started working ahead, then I would if I had the time to do it. And a lot of times I'd have stuff done before the professor even told us we needed to start it. So it worked out that I never had to do anything after 5 o'clock and I got straight A's. ","file":{"id":391306,"video_id":"3475481027001","name":"2515-Jake-SoftwareDevelopHigherEd1","duration":211349,"thumbnail_url":null}});