Here's how you can kickstart your software engineering career as a beginner.

My key suggestions for aspiring software engineers focus on building strong foundations and continually enhancing skills. Start with Java or python to grasp fundamental programming concepts, as this will form the basis for automating tasks and developing reliable applications. Engage in coding exercises on platforms(my favorite is LeetCode) to sharpen your problem-solving abilities, and then apply to real-world scenarios. Seek mentors for guidance, advice, & insights into the industry.

Staying abreast of the technology is the key. Dont just read technology, write it. Code is understood better only when we write it. Try to understand the inclination of the market. Always be flexible to change/switch technology based on mareket conditions. Make sure you can contribute better than anyone 5 years younger than you or you get replaced. Last but not the least, try to stay billable all the time :)

Focus on the logic first. Learn the key concepts about IF, ELSE, FOR, WHILE, SWITCH, and other common statements. This needs to be learned before you choose your language. Keep in mind that learning how to program is not only reading but also having hands-on code. Practice is one key to success. Once you dominate the logic, please choose any language (JS is easy and recommended), create anything, innovate, change it, try, fail, figure out what goes wrong, fix it, try again, and understand what's happening.

For someone who wants to kickstart a career in software engineering they are better placed if they are naturally inclined towards problem analysis and a methodical approach to solving it. Building competence takes time and effort. Software engineering is not about programming alone. So knowing language constructs like variables, control structures etc is necessary but not sufficient. It would help to go through, discuss and understand the design and the work flow from peers and then practice on their own.

When developing any application, prioritize robust architecture with reliability and scalability. Cross-platform development languages & tools should be a good consideration, If you're building a mobile app, using React Native is a good option. If you are building APIs then GraphQL is a good option. After user testing, refine your app to enhance user experience, such as optimizing loading times or improving navigation. Documenting your project’s setup and README file can make it easier for new or existing team members to understand and contribute quickly, ensuring smooth collaboration & maintenance.

These projects don’t need to be ones that you have thought of from the inception - there are also open source projects that you may already be dependent on that could use help, piggybacking of off years of experience and reading others code will lead you to ask questions and develop. Many of these projects have requirements when contributing and you’ll get exposure to workflows that you may have not yet considered. Regardless this exercise is exposing you to a wide range of potential error, error leads to enquiry and enquiry leads to understanding. A feedback loop that is core to developing software.

Recognize that building projects is a way to develop coding skills however developing engineering skills takes years of experience building systems at scale.

Build small projects to get started. It is also a good way to learn programming and software design. Then progress to more difficult ones. Choose a problem you want to solve and start working on that even with a simple app.

Keep in mind that learning how to program is not only reading but also having hands-on code. Practice is one key to success. Once you dominate the logic, please choose any language (JS is easy and recommended), create anything, innovate, change it, try, fail, figure out what goes wrong, fix it, try again, and understand what's happening.

A key tool to learn about is profilers. Writing functionally correct code is the first step but also making sure the code runs efficiently is crucial in many areas of software engineering. With so many types of hardware and the complexity of today’s hardware architectures it can be close to impossible to figure out where the bottlenecks are by just looking at the code. By using a profiler you can pin point the problematic areas and then you use your knowledge about computer science and hardware to figure out how to fix it.

Software engineering extends beyond writing code, it's more about productivity and collaboration. Properly using Git helps manage different development streams, ensuring that features and fixes are integrated smoothly without conflicts. Pull requests enable thorough reviews & discussions before merging into master. Mastering IDEs such as IntelliJ for Java is vital, Features like intelligent code completion, refactoring tools, and built-in debugging capabilities bring efficiency. I personally like IntelliJ's intelligent code completion and plugable AI coding assistants, these can predict and suggest the next lines of code, generate boilerplate code, manage imports, etc.. eventually saving time and reducing errors.

Using productivity tracking tools like Jira and Asana will clearly show how productive you are. Tools like Git are essential for tracking the progress of your applications, which is very important for backtracking, raising pull requests, and code reviewing. Use IDE tools. While some developers still use Notepad++, it's important to master IDEs like Visual Studio Code and IntelliJ Use build tools like Webpack, Maven, and Gradle. Use tools like Jenkins and CircleCI for continuous deployments. For API development, tools like Postman and Swagger are invaluable.

Using monitoring tools like Prometheus or logging services like ELK (Elasticsearch, Logstash, and Kibana) can bridge the gap between the technical nuances of software development and business impacts. These tools help in demystifying the complexities of software projects by presenting actionable insights through easy-to-understand interfaces. They allow stakeholders to see the immediate effects of changes, understand potential risks, and appreciate the pace of progress without needing deep technical expertise.

Even though software engineers can write highly optimized code, they will struggle on any product team if they don't know how to use the tools that their product teams leverage. When I talk about tools, I also include best practices associated with the tools and their project. For instance, developers need to follow how product teams version the code on Git, write comments in the code, and how to unit test the code. Tools influence these product and development teams to operate.

I stress the significance of grasping CS fundamentals for all S/W engineers. Mastery of Algos, DS and complexity analysis is essential for tackling challenging problems and crafting efficient code for making strategic coding decisions. For instance, understanding when to use a hash table over a binary search tree can greatly enhance performance. I 100% echo that we should avoid rushing, focus on truly understanding the principles & practical applications. Eg. knowing how to effectively implement a dynamic programming solution to optimize resource usage is more important than just knowing dynamic programming fundamentals. This deep comprehension will drive innovation in your projects.

Don't forget to learn about computer basics like bit/byte, memory, storage, network, and processing... those are keys to knowing and handling future implementations and the required knowledge to be a great software engineer!

Data structure is the most important among other fundamentals. Most software/apps are just interface on how do we operate data. If you cant understand the data, its hard for you to build robust apps

I think that it is important to learn design methodologies. The emphasis was on writing code when I was in college. Since then I have learned various design methodologies and have discovered that a well thought out design makes the coding phase much easier.

This is the most valuable thing to do, if you have access. I started coding with very little experience when I started working, but my work gave me access to so many amazing software engineers who turned into my CS professors. The advice is ask as many people as many questions as you can, don’t be too proud to admit you don’t know, and be kind to everyone.

Touch grass, connect with other people and learn from them, always empty your glass and be humble. Soft skills and connection will help you get better chance along the way than your hard skill

Try to find a community with workshops or doing an exercise. This gives you the opportunity to work with professionals outside of your company and learn from their ideas and thoughts on how they see software should be build. You can also try to find a mentor at such communities who might help you in your career, by giving you feedback on your work. Guide you in your career by helping you to find the next step to learn or what a good next step is when switching jobs.

Join tech communities within your interest. If you're into meetups, find one in your area. You can learn techniques from other developers and expand your knowledge. Attend tech events and workshops. Most events are free anyway. This will help you create a network. Your network can also help you in finding a job via referrals.

I can attribute a good portion of my learning to community events. Conferences and Code and Coffee sessions with professionals within the language I was practicing and with professionals in completely adjacent disciplines both helped me to approach my work differently. Many inspired me to explore something I wouldn’t have tried hadn’t I attended the event. Many of those ideas I’d take back and eventually make apart of my day to day practices. I remember being exposed to Feature Flagging in 2015 and how that has become a practice by which I code in production ever since.

You may quickly develop paralysis when evaluating what to learn next - there is just so much, try evaluating your current understanding of things at least annually - in the tools you are already familiar, read up on new things but also if not more importantly - re-evaluate your understanding of the fundamentals, so many engineers are looking forward and building on top of a mountain of rich libraries without understanding what lies beneath - be curious and challenge the status quo

You should always keep yourself updated. Never take this for granted. Don't let your skills be obsolete! Always spend some free time to learn new things. This will help you professionally and make you viable to companies in any stage of your career.

Think of ways to improvise on the quality of design / code contributions over time. This way, one will be in sync with the technology, tools, techniques and processes that have evolved since.

Software Engineers need to continuously learn. Otherwise, they may go extinct, as the dinosaurs did. Software engineering has evolved in the last 25 years and will continue to evolve. With the evolution of Agile programming, DevOps, DevSecOps, cloud computing, Language Learning Models (LLM), and others, software engineers need to know about unit testing, smoke testing, cybersecurity NIST controls, secure software development, containers, and others. This doesn't mean legacy programming skills like COBOL, FORTRAN, and JAVA are dead since a lot of legacy applications with legacy programming still exist. I recommend online training like Linkedin Training, Cloud Academy, Cybrary, O'Reilly, and others.

When I first started my role as a software engineer, my manager used to say that continuous learning is more important than the tech stack you already know. If you get a manager like mine, you are very lucky. While using internet resources to solve problems can help you get through the day, continuous learning is the key to being successful in any field, not just IT. Take time every day, 2 hours before your working hours, not after, and learn something related to your field. You will see progress in your work if you follow this.

To be a successful software engineer, you must not only write about great software but also be a team player, show empathy towards the team and others, have a great work ethic and be an overall leader. It doesn't hurt to be a great communicator and a good writer since all of these traits will make you valuable on any software team.

Open Source companies are allways looking for entusiastic contributors. @GitLab, @Mastodon to name a few. They have established processes. You are more than welcome to learn and to contribute and to obtain feedback from world-class experts.

All the things mentioned above are fundamentals, they are absolutely required, but they don't guarantee you career success. First of all define your long-term goals. What would you like to achieve in 5 years, 10 years, <define your own number>? If you want to be a software engineer, master the fundamentals, that's certainly enough. If it's something else, plan it and put your plans into action, any progress in the desired direction is a progress. You can verify & adjust from time to time - do you still have the same goal as a couple of years ago, are you on track?

Success in software engineering requires a willingness to experiment. Every idea, regardless of its simplicity or complexity, holds potential. The readiness to test new concepts, iterate on them, and learn from both successes and failures is what drives technology forward. This experimental mindset not only enhances your own learning but also contributes to the collective knowledge of your team and the broader tech community.