Software Engineering Skills
Top 10 Essential Software Engineering Skills
The software engineering skills are an important part of the professional skill set for both Software Engineers and Software Developers in order to effectively perform in a leadership role in a software development project .
Some of the most important professional skills necessary for a Software Engineer and Software developer include professional qualifications and certifications , Programming Expertise , Team management skills , Mathematical and Analytical skills , Planning And Execution skills , training and coaching skills , knowledge of automation tools and best coding practices and high degree of creativity.
In this article we are going to discuss each of these skill in detail and its relevance for both Software Engineer and a Software developer.
Top 10 Software Engineering Skills
- Professional Qualification And Certification
- Programming And Coding Skills
- Problem Solving Skills And Logical Thinking
- Team Management Skills
- Training And Coaching Skills
- High Degree Of Creativity
- Planning And Execution Skills
- Project Management Skills
- Expertise In Automation Tools
- Expertise In Best Coding Practices
Top 10 Software Engineering Skills
For Software Engineers And Software Developers
The software engineering is the branch of computer science that deals with the development of software application to solve a specific problem. The software engineering is a part of applied computer science .Â
The software engineer is also alternately referred as software developer but the two roles slightly differ. However , in the job market , these two roles practically means the same.Â
The Computer System consist of both Hardware And Software . The software components can be of two types . First type is system software and the second type is application software .Â
 The system software components such as device drivers , utility programs are managed by the operating system to communicate with the specific hardware components. Whereas the application software provide an interface to the user to perform various tasks .
First Skill
Professional Qualifications And Certification
Although computer science jobs are skill set based jobs but the requisite professional qualification or certification related to computer science does provide a credibility to your candidature for any position .
And therefore, it is advisable to have a degree in either computer science or computer engineering or any such equivalent qualification .
Most employer companies do conduct necessary screening tests to access the professional skills required for the position .
These screening tests also gives a fair opportunity to  the candidates who graduate either from the school of experience or there are many online e-learning portals which offer a quality online education .
Second Skill
Programming And Coding Skills
The programming and coding skills are prerequisite skills for most of the jobs in software development .
Most computer science or computer engineering degree curriculum include and teach programming languages such as  C , C++ , Java , Python , Java Script and other programming languages .
It is important for the candidate to be familiar with computer science fundamentals , data structures and algorithms , programming languages and debugging the code . Most candidate develop these expertise as they start working on the various software development projects .
Most reputed employers also conduct periodic training sessions and technical skill enhancement programs for their employees to upgrade their technical programming skills .
What Is Programming And Coding ?
Programming And Coding Skills
Software Framework
A software framework is a pre-written program structure code that is already tried and tested for its performance. The framework provides a generic functionality to facilitate the routine programming tasks .Â
By using framework , a programmer can quickly develop a software application. The framework is different from Library which most software developers are familiar.Â
Difference Between Library And Software Framework
The framework provides a uniform standard structure for specific types of software applications . The framework may not provide the implementation details for the framework components . Whereas the library routines provide the implementation details as well.
The  framework provides a ready to use code for software structure that software developer can readily use while developing a software application .Â
Most programming languages provide different frameworks that is suitable for developing specific type of software application .
Software Framework
JavaScript Framework | Python Framework
For example JavaScript provides Anjular JS And Node JS for web application development . Whereas the python provides  Django , Bottle , Cherry Ply and many more.
It is an important skill for a software developer to develop expertise in some important  frameworks which add significant value to your profile  in the job market. The framework is an important tool for rapid application development .
Third Skill
Problem Solving Skills And Logical Thinking
The software applications are primarily developed to solve a specific problem . The software development project typically involves integration several modules and each module might consist of several thousand lines of code written by many programmers .
All software products go through gregarious debugging and software testing process to ensure the quality of the final software product . And therefore , during the development process , the development team has to overcome many problems .Â
The problem solving skills are indispensable part of  the job for any role in the software development process .
The analytical skill is another important skill for a software developer to analyse the large and complex problems generally associated with any software development projects .
Fourth Skill
Team Management Skills
Most software projects involves a considerable amount of team work .The software project team might include  many employees  working on the same project .
The computer engineer or software developer might handle a team of programmers and other members working on the project .
The team management skill requires leadership , soft skills , result orientation and excellent communication skills to drive team to achieve the assigned objectives . The team management skill is an essential skill for any leadership role .
Fifth Skill
Training And Coaching Skills
It is desirable for a candidates working either  as a software engineer or as a software developer to effectively function as a trainer and support the training function within the organization .
Most software developers and engineers are required to provide the technical guidance and coaching to their team mates depending upon their domain expertise. Â
The employees working especially in leadership roles must develop and demonstrate  effective training skills .
The software development is both science and also an art . The software development involves lot of creativity . The painter expresses his creativity in the paintings .Â
Similarly , the programmer expresses his creativity in his programs . An element of creativity is the most under rated skill which adds significant value to any software project .
A software developer is expected to be creative in terms new ideas for developing new software applications that are useful to the user .Â
The element of creativity is also important in terms of  designing the user interfaces and overall look and feel of the software product. The user interface design is an important part of the user experience.
The user experience is a very important performance parameter these days especially in the context of web design and development. The software developer has to create user friendly interfaces to improve the user experience. Â
Seventh Skill
Planning And Execution Skills
The software developers typically work with technology companies that design software for the client companies . The software engineer and developer work on the software projects being designed to meet the requirements.
The software project involve several activities which can be either concurrent or interdependent . The software engineer must carefully plan these activities being carried out by many people part of the software development team.
The software developer must meticulously plan and execute the software development project to avoid any project cost and time overrun .
Software Development Life Cycle
What Is Software Development Life Cycle ?
The project management is the primary responsibility of the project manager . However, it is important for the entire project management team to be conscious of the project management objectives .
 The software development projects are required to be delivered within the budgeted cost and stipulated time-frame.
And therefore ,it is important for the software development team  to carefully plan and execute several activities that are required to be completed within constrains to achieve the desired results .
Depending upon the scale of the software development project , the project management team should make use of project management tools to complete the project within budgeted time and resources.
And therefore , project management skills are important for software engineer and software developers working in leadership roles .
Project Management Skills
- Critical Thinking.
- Time Management
- Communication Skills.
- Organization Skills.
- Interpersonal Skills.
- Training And Coaching Skills.
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Ninth Skill
Expertise In
Software Development Automation Tools
The software developer must develop expertise in using software development automation tools such as Integrated Development Environment ( IDE ) .
An IDE is a group of software tools bundled together to provide some essential tools to the software developer .
An IDE typically consist of  a code editor, a compiler or interpreter, a debugger and other tools . The software developer can access these tools  through a single common Graphical User Interface (GUI ).
Depending upon the type of the software application to be developed , the software engineer can make use of these IDE tools . There are many IDE tools available for software development .
The IDE makes it possible for the software development team to write a clean code incorporating the best coding practices which is easier to read and maintain.
The software development team must adopt and consistently implement the best industry coding standards to avoid any potential problems during the development stage and also after the post implementation stage .
In case of large and complex software development project , the complexity of the project can be minimized by implementing the standard coding practices .
The implementation of best coding practices results a much cleaner code that is relatively easier to read and maintain .
What Is Software Engineering ?
Other Useful References
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