This week I am planning to change gears to talk about our capstone project a bit. So far things have been a bit slow going. Most of our effort has been focused around getting the build working for the program we will containerize. There is a lot of reading legacy code and figuring out what exactly the software does. So basically, just like the first few weeks in any new software engineering job. In fact, I started a new job about 3 months ago and the amount of similarity is both startling and reassuring.
In my first software engineering role, I felt like a total failure because it took me over a week just to get my build working properly. My databases were a mess, and I didn’t understand what anything was doing. Starting my second job I thought I was more prepared, but they did everything so differently that the experience was very similar. After going through it again for the capstone, it is a bit startling to realize that this will probably be the case in every new job. It seems that tech stacks are quite unique from place to place – even where similar technologies are implemented. Knowing that tech stack knowledge is job specific though is empowering. At least know I know what to expect when starting a new role somewhere!
I also find these similarities comforting. It’s nice to know that an adjustment period to learn a new tech stack is expected. Software engineering is so much more than just programing, and there are so many different business tools, workflows, and tech stack configurations that it is impossible to know it all. It is enough to focus on how to ask good questions and how to read error logs. I imagined writing code all day at work like my classes, but the reality is that I spend at least 70% of my time reading either documentation or legacy code. Being able to troubleshoot and read code effectively are just as important as writing efficient algorithms. I’m glad that this course exposes us to these truths so that the transition into the profession is easier!
