Engineering is well known as a difficult but lucrative career choice. There are many different facets of engineering, the newest among them being software engineering. It’s exciting to think about engineering in the age of technology, but what exactly does it entail and what does it mean? Here’s a look at understanding software engineering.
Basics of Software Engineering
Engineering itself is the designing and building of everything from machines to bridges. Software engineers, then, do exactly this for software. According to Drexel University, the core of software engineering is to “apply the principles and techniques of computer science, engineering, and mathematical analysis to the design, development, testing, and evaluation of the software and the systems that enable computers to perform their many applications.” That’s a lot of different and complicated aspects for just one job, especially because there are so many types of software.
More simply put, software engineers use the scientific principles of engineering to design and test different types of software. These types of software might include operating systems, distribution networks, and software that does certain jobs on a computer (from a plagiarism checker to a word processor to a security resource for the government). Software engineers might need to develop algorithms, analyze and solve problems (such as ensuring security for a program), or use code to tell the computer what to do (also called "programming").
Software Engineering Specialty: Computer Applications
The field of software engineering can be divided into two fields: computer systems and computer applications. Computer applications software engineers create general or specific computer programs based on the needs of their audience. Then, they “build” these programs and keep that software maintained to perform its job. Computer applications software engineers must understand different coding (or programming) languages and know which language is appropriate in a given situation (i.e. Java, C, C++, and less common codes). Applications engineers may create the software of whole systems with their individualized software or a variety of applications that serve a different purposes.
Software Engineering Specialty: Computer Systems
Computer systems software engineers often work for a company and help create a system they then maintain. Additionally, they must develop ways for this system to continue being worth the company’s time and resources. In order to do this effectively, a systems engineer must understand the needs of the company at present, and what they’re going to need in the future. Rather than creating a system that anyone can use at home, they might create a unique system tailored to a company. For example, a retail company might need a system that keeps track of inventory, ordering, scheduling, and payroll.
In the future, the engineer might know the company will need a billing aspect of the system as well, and be prepared to work that into the system when the time is right. Another aspect of designing these systems is ensuring that the security is strong; software engineers must be sure to design their systems (and applications) in such a way that deters hacking as much as possible. While the engineer might work for the company itself, generally they would work for an outsourced company that designs systems for many other businesses.