Want to develop core software engineering skills
Hi everyone! I'm a new grad hoping to level up my software engineering skills by learning from experienced engineers' real-time problem-solving and thought processes. Reading code in repos or watching pre-made tutorials is helpful, but I'm specifically interested in seeing how skilled engineers:
- Break down ambiguous problems
- Debug systematically
- Research and evaluate solutions
- Think about edge cases and architecture
- Navigate and understand large codebases
I'm looking for suggestions on finding resources or people who demonstrate these skills. Ideally either: 1) A mentor/pair programming buddy (willing to pay if rates are reasonable), or 2) Content creators on YouTube/Twitch who show their unedited problem-solving workflow rather than just polished tutorials.
I'm aiming to learn from engineers who can articulate their problem-solving approach and help develop strong engineering fundamentals. I am currently unemployed so pair programming with a senior SWE is not an option. So I am trying to find resources (or mentors) who I can observe and replicate.
Any suggestions for finding what I'm looking for? Happy to provide more context about my goals or the specific skills I'm hoping to develop. Thanks for any advice!
![Senior Software Engineer [E5] at Meta company logo](/_next/image/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ffirebasestorage.googleapis.com%2Fv0%2Fb%2Ftech-career-growth.appspot.com%2Fo%2Fcompany_logos%252Fmeta.jpeg%3Falt%3Dmedia%26token%3Da7a5bcc0-e178-4b5b-b71e-09bf6c6aefae&w=48&q=75){kind=small}
![Entry-Level Software Engineer [L3] at Google company logo](/_next/image/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ffirebasestorage.googleapis.com%2Fv0%2Fb%2Ftech-career-growth.appspot.com%2Fo%2Fcompany_logos%252Fgoogle.jpeg%3Falt%3Dmedia%26token%3D780356ef-3efc-4728-9eb4-d909b75bb4a6&w=48&q=75){kind=small}
Discussion
(2 comments)- 1a month agoSDE @ Amazon www.anamazonsde.com
I don't think there will be significant shortcuts here. The 5 items you added above are basically the core skills as you mentioned, to learn them, it takes time, practice, and failure. It's a good thing to not only rely on tutorials/reading code, but also just paying to pair with someone it not going to cut it as well.
Given your current circumstances, I would try to look for opportunities for participating in open source projects, get involved, create PRs, get pushed back, ask for clarifications, and learn from all that and iterate.
Look for internship opportunities, volunteer to work on a project you like, all these will give you the real ladder you need to step up, practice!
Here are some tips to start with each of the items:
- Break down ambiguous problems: Understand the problem first at a higher level, what is the problem? What are you trying to solve? What are the KPIs for success? Then try to break it into meaningful components/sections, the for each one, iterate and do the same.
- Debug systematically: Start by reading about different ways, you will be surprised to know that the most efficient is still the
printline()calls! - Research and evaluate solutions: When you break down the problem into meaningful sections, each of these sections needs ways to solve it, find 2 or 3 ways, write pros and cons, make sure you get a balanced list, then compare these pros/cons with the original problem, what is the most important aspect? Time? support for X options? These questions will help you choose the right decision for each component.
- Think about edge cases and architecture: These are 2 different things, architecture comes at a higher and more abstract level, edge cases are more common at lower levels. Try not to mix it, otherwise you will complicate the architecture and end up with over engineered solution.
- Navigate and understand large codebases: Generate class diagrams for the code, it will help you visualize it, try to write a documentation for the code, try to add some small refactors.
- 2
a month agoSoftware Engineer @ VerilyNicely put together. I would also add that, shadow someone who does these skills really well.
