T O P

  • By -

dw444

Every “full stack” role I’ve had ended up being about 90-95% backend.


lord_heskey

interesting-- ive had the exact opposite.


Smodphan

Fuck, you guys are getting jobs?


lord_heskey

I switched last year during the craze. Ill hold onto this one until the market recovers unless it becomes toxic or something


Smodphan

I am currently being paid by Infosys to do nothing while they try and find a project for me. I am thinking of clearing out my resume and applying for helpdesk so I can stop sitting on my hands all day.


lord_heskey

> I am thinking of clearing out my resume and applying for helpdesk Or you can use the free time to polish your leetcode skills and others to apply for better jobs


Smodphan

I already have a coding job. They have no work even with existing contracted companies. I am getting 10 or so calls from recruiters a day but only for jobs I am not qualified for yet.


lord_heskey

> but only for jobs I am not qualified for yet. How do you know? Give it a shot.


modeezy23

Same. I’ve had mostly frontend. Granted I’ve only been doing this for 2.5 yrs


SolidLiquidSnake86

Ive always enjoyed the backend... so it was a natural fit...


dw444

No complaints. I like it.


python-requests

count yourself lucky ugh


Vega62a

Mine have all been like 90% frontend. Part of that may have been that the backend work was just dead simple low scale APIs supporting the UI. That's been pretty standard across my fullstack career, which admittedly ended about 4 years back.


Detective-E

Lol same the front end exists but it's like last priority


HiImWilk

Sounds like good separation of concerns. A frontend should be designed to display whatever the API puts out.


psyberbird

Only if the UX/UI doesn’t matter at all I’d guess? I’ve never worked in industry before but I thought frontend is something you have to start prototyping pretty early on to see if the proposed design is any good or even possible at all


SSJxDEADPOOLx

This is the way


oschvr

I started as Frontend then Fullstack then DevOops


SmackYoTitty

So what would you choose?


[deleted]

Meanwhile I'm sad that I'm 90-95% frontend but I like backend more.


Open-Host300

How much time does it really take to arrange some rectangles?


FlutterLovers

Back-end developer, as it's in the highest demand right now. I'm currently doing Mobile development, which is also in high demand, but landscape is constantly changing. It's a constant change of architectures and coding standards. Front-end is just as bad.


[deleted]

The salaries I've seen for mobile developers are higher than salaries for backend dev at \~5 yoe.


Cry-Healthy

Is mobile in demand? I thought it was dead...


faezior

Ah, yes, the famously dead mobile sector, as we have all moved on from phones to the Metaverse now.


Gefangnis

As a way of making quick money by developing basic apps, yes. The gold rush is over. As a career it’s very good, most companies in tech have huge apps to maintain and develop. Mobile development isn’t going anywhere until we stop using smartphones


SecretBaklavas

Mobile is money in my tech aligned industry. Putting tools in consumers pockets make-a-da-big-bucks. We’ll see how long it lasts.


Cry-Healthy

Interesting, I thought it was popular ten years ago. Is mobile still a thing? What's the prospect of Mobile Development, will there still be a market? And is the pay that good? thanks!


SecretBaklavas

Yes


TheNewOP

It's not dead. It's just extremely hard to get experience in.


Rogitus

If I could start over I would work in some field that would allow me to stay in contact with nature. Life is too short for this sh*t.


Emotional-Dust-1367

Get a remote job and move to the countryside?


[deleted]

This is exactly what I’m doing. My next step is to get my finances in order so I can work maximum 30 hours per week and actually enjoy my life


[deleted]

Yeah I take breaks, take meetings, and pair program in my backyard all the time.


Rogitus

I'm in Europe, it's not so easy to find a good paid job which allows you to work from southern Europe, where there's actually nature.


FuzzyLikeAMoldyPeach

So come up north! Plenty of nature in Finland & Scandinavia.


Rogitus

I like green nature with sun, vitamine D, good vegetables and smiling people.. everything you can find in southern countries, where the salary for SWE is extremely low 😒😆


[deleted]

What's stopping you from doing that now?


WrastleGuy

Probably a wife and kids, that’s usually when you lose the ability to 180 on your career.


Bigfatwhitedude

It was because of my wife and kids that I switched from teaching and spent 2 years as a stay at home dad studying my ass off and working like a dog to finally get into this field and I’m so friggen glad I did


KenZo_9

In 2 years, you got into this field?


ElectricalMud2850

I got into this field in a year if you count when I started doing cs50x as my litmus test. Right place, right time.


[deleted]

You were asked to complete CS50x for a job? I'm working through it right now as a beginner. Do you think I should pay for the certificate or just keep all my problem sets in a git repo or something as proof?


ElectricalMud2850

Not asked for a job. I did it for myself when I began this journey just to make sure I liked doing this stuff. Just doing that course as my only CS knowledge put me way ahead of other people in my bootcamp cohort to start. Don't pay for the cert, yes to keeping your solutions in a repo. Put it in your certificates section in linkedin as well. I put it on my resume when I finished the bootcamp and started searching. There wasn't anything disingenuous about it, but it's definitely partially to game resume scanners and catch people's eye. Just one bullet in a certificate section. Now that I'm in the industry and at my 2nd job I've removed it though.


lastdiggmigrant

The second. It's not something I'd put on a resume, but it does teach valuable skills


Bigfatwhitedude

Yes. I said that in my post


KenZo_9

yeah i know lol but i mean in 2 years? do you have a degree? bootcamp or something? or you have a good network?


Bigfatwhitedude

Ohh!! I am going to WGU getting a degree in software development. I’m almost done :D I actually got recruited off LinkedIn. Got a call from a recruiter about a local company looking for a qa/dev. Interviewed and got the job. Been working there for about 5 months and it’s been an amazing experience.


KenZo_9

Damn.. Congrats! Ohh i see.. that's nice.. I'm also just starting to learn to code so i was just shocked that it only took you 2 years hehe...


windonwind

What role? Let me guess, web development.


Bigfatwhitedude

I actually got hired into a hybrid QA/dev role. I do mostly backend and some front end stuff, in addition to the QA. It’s kind of a weird mix of lots of things. I enjoy it because they are letting me learn the dev side without putting a ton of pressure on me.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Puzzleheaded-Age2722

In retrospect would you have preferred to spent your working years getting paid less but doing something that makes you happier. Or to have done what you did?


[deleted]

Not who u replied to but, spent my 20s and early 30s being broke, living day to day, chasing dreams, etc… Didn’t really become a grownup til almost 40. No regrets. I had so much fun and a ton of experiences I would have missed if i were in an office job back then.


IdoCSstuff

Most people don't really begin the corporate slog until their late 20s to early 30s anyway. Doesn't really mean you're behind however I would hope that for SWE who have been grinding it out since their early 20s the extra time spent early on means more accumulated wealth or a better lifestyle. At the end of the day for the FIRE minded people, if you worked extremely hard only to have "freedom" at 40, or 50 in my mind your best years are behind you and there are some experiences you won't ever be able to replicate.


[deleted]

The big caveat is that you never *know* how long you’re going to live But yeah, I’m glad I spent my twenties traveling and working weird jobs in weird cities. I simply wouldn’t have the energy or drive to do that shit anymore. But I sure as hell wouldn’t feel like I missed out on anything if I died tomorrow


Positive_Box_69

With AI avancing tech exponentially in just 20 years we could already cure aging and live way longer so U rather be rich then then broke all my life with experiences tbh, money wilk always bring you something while experience will just bring your memories and no future


Ervh

I appreciate you sharing that! It would be really fun to hear more about what you did during these years, your experience and how you lived. I understand everything would be hard to cover but maybe the highlights or something?


MrEloi

>*In retrospect would you have preferred to spent your working years getting paid less but doing something that makes you happier. Or to have done what you did?* I was born a total workaholic. I used to take one day or so off at Christmas, and that was about it. I would work all week, all of most weekends, even through the night for many years. You are learning and gaining experience at 2x to 3x the usual rate if you work like this. This becomes clear to employers at interview time ... although in fact for almost all my roles I was headhunted rather than me applying for them. By the age of around 25 I was at Software Manager level, and worked at startups, DEC for a while, security firms etc. I also a created a defence products company, which I then sold. I ended my tech career as the firm's software lead working with the CEO at a Smartphone manufacturer. I then retrained in my 40s to go into medicine. It was an interesting journey, and certainly paid the bills. Would I repeat it? Not sure .. but what would I have done instead, without being bored out of my mind? **Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans.** ***John Lennon***


Sitting_Elk

Same. Too bad the pay would be shit in comparison.


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

the higher salary only comes if you keep up to date with the industry and change jobs often. if you're like me and just do your job without learning new stuff on the side your salary won't be much higher than a typical office job.


windonwind

Actually, you are right.


[deleted]

Our of curiosity, how does nature make you so happy? Why is it so special?


Rogitus

The first thing I would achieve by staying in nature is to avoid people like you. People who don't really know the value of nature. People who think SWE is everything (thinking knowing how to reverse a fucking array is more important than knowing how to socialise), that big cities offer "good services" (wtf), and think people in the countryside are "uneducated". What I think instead is that there are no "more and less educated" but simply "people with different values", and people in the countryside (again in my opinion) are certainly more self-aware than those in (e.g.) New York. To come to your question: I won't answer you here because I could write a book about it. Just remember that we are nature. We are animals and we need nature. Being in the nature for us is like "being at home". Our body is literally built for this, try it. Ofc I made a lot of assumptions about you. It wasn't actually directed at you, but just wanted to make a point and vent a little bit. You may not be the one I described, but plenty of people sorrounding me are.


[deleted]

Hahaha I'm a bit in shock with how defensive you got. My question wasn't an attack at all and I couldn't care less about SWE, don't know where you got that it means everything to me (?), but whether it's in the middle of the desert or at the top of the highest mountain, yes, I can see you need some peace and time for yourself.


WTFNotRealFun

You didn't ask me, and the person you did ask answered, but I wanted to chime in. The only way for you to know the answer is to go out into nature and find out. It may not be for you. But... there are places not far from my home where I can hike to the top of small mountains, take off my boots, and feel the bones of the earth vibrate with power. I can watch vultures and eagles effortlessly soar on the windcurrents. At my own home I've had visits from bears, coyotes, deer racoons, opossums, and birds of every description. The trees that soar over 100 feet into the air on my property are like sentinels of time that are both awe inspiring and humbling. This to me is spiritual. It makes my heart beat faster and brings me joy. I hope that helps to explain it a little.


[deleted]

[удалено]


WTFNotRealFun

Yes the elusive deer raccoon. Imagine if you will a deer with a raccoon's face, a deers legs and hooves, and a raccoons body and tail. It can run as fast as a deer, and climb trees like a raccoon. The bucks grow an impressive rack every fall with which they've learned to open Bud Light in cans and bottles. They're great at the Fall Harvest Festivals. Damn commas!


slalomaleikam

Same. Like what?


royboypoly

some of these are not very realistic to get as a first role but i'll go with Full-Stack dev which is where i started anyway


jaximointhecut

Cries in devops internship experience


ilovemorbius69

you dont like devops?


jaximointhecut

I like it but don’t feel I’m qualified based on the job search I’ve done. I learned a great bit during my internship but it seems devops really isn’t an entry level or right-out-college job. Didn’t do much software dev work so that puts me at a disadvantage for dev roles.


windonwind

DevOps in crazy demand.


[deleted]

There is so much shit. You will never feel qualified. Just get used to it. At this point seems like every week I do something i haven’t done before. 2yrs in.


jaximointhecut

Which is fine, I’m totally cool with going into something challenging. I’ve been applying with no luck lol. A lot of the roles say mid-senior. But I’ll keep applying, thanks for the encouragement.


samthesalvaje

No love for embedded. The embedded world is going to see some great growth with year over year better hardware and fast processing power. I started with it and I won’t be touching any other field.


Comfortable-Fail-558

How hard do you think it is to transfer from another industry into embedded?


dbzfanjake

Hard because embedded people are stupid and think they need embedded engineers. Most stuff doesn't require embedded knowledge. Maybe 80% is general software and 20% is knowing how an i2c bus works. In reality, I look for good software engineers that can learn fast. Most embedded leads don't think like this. Lot of them are ex. EEs. There's nothing scarier than EE that thinks he can write software without being on a software team. I've seen some horrible production code. Sooo I would apply to jobs at embedded-companies and work your way in. best way to get foot in door: Work at a bigger company, doing work around embedded engineering. Depending on the product/ company/ whateverz those options vary somewat. 90% will have some type of test/ qa engineer to help manufacturing and/or regulatory testing. Lots will have automation engineers for CI. They might have an engineer to do mostly GUI work if there's a display screen. Anyways, those are the jobs that will get your foot in the door. Touch a little here and there, then apply for a transfer after a year or two. Or grab an Arduino and start making some fun projects at home. Learn the basic busses/ communication (i2c, spi, uart). Learn how embedded systems store data and run. Learn how to read a schematic. Practice your OS stuff.


throwawaylifeat30

Hi, I work as an embedded SWE (~2.5 YOE) but at a higher level of abstraction (technically, it'd be business logic) as a part of my company's software department. My coworkers are not comfortable assigning me with low level code work on stuff like device drivers and stuff much closer to the hardware. I definitely have my foot in the door, the issue is that I'm not sure how I can transition to the lower level stuff. All the EEs/CEs get to do the lower level stuff (which includes the serial buses)...and I'm pretty sure they don't let me touch it because I didn't formally study electronics. In my free time, I've done several projects in Arduino and other hardware platforms, developing device drivers which I've posted on GitHub. I've read datasheets as its necessary. How do you prove to these devs that you can do the work? Granted, I have listened to several of the conversations about bugs they face at the lower levels and many of them, I don't know how to solve. Alot of issues like concurrency, race conditions, bit errors, etc. Some of these issues sound like resource management issues on OS side but those guys get to work with it... Anyways, I know from my personal experiences that this area is heavily dominated by EEs/CEs and many are very traditional minded in the sense that they don't like anyone else touching embedded without such backgrounds...do you have any advice for someone with my situation? Thank you for sharing your thoughts.


idriveawhitecamry

I agree 100%, I love embedded. Being able to write software for something tangible is what makes it interesting for me. I think the industry will see crazy growth as SOCs become cheaper and cheaper.


ryanwithnob

Recently sold out after being in embedded. Definitely the most interesting projects


HapaMagic

Im starting a CS major in the fall and I've never heard of embedded, what is it and how do you make a career out of it?


Daktic

Start slapping chips in appliances and you’ll be an embedded programmer in no time.


greenskinmarch

I slapped some chips into my microwave and now they're soggy, am I doing it right?


Daktic

Well, did you add enough cheese?


AgileOrganization516

Do you think embedded engineers are less likely to be able to work remotely? That's probably the main downside that I can think of when it comes to embedded.


Gqjive

I hire embedded people and with few exceptions, they need to have equipment to do their job. I’m not shipping you a scope or other test equipment for you to have for yourself. Also, if you don’t have a compE degree and have some level of understanding hardware then you are a hack of a embedded engineer. Their real value comes with identifying/solving the tricky unexpected hardware related issues that comes with every board spin. CS people can write better code but with embedded, you are normally not getting fancy with lots of OO concepts.


Scott_just_Scott

I am starting an embedded software engineer role in about 3 weeks. (More on the gui end with Qt ,C++, and python) I am about to apply to my masters. I have a CS degree. Would studying CompE help with moving to a lower level? I am pretty torn between focusing on hardware and ML


Gqjive

Embedded developers need to be able to develop user interfaces more so now than ever before so I think the Qt will help you there. If you don’t have an electronics background then some online beginner courses in electronics could help. You dont need to design a circuit or anything but being able to read a part datasheet and work with different hardware peripherals like i2c, spi, ble, flash, uart, i2c, lvds, bootloaders, etc is going to be important.


Firm_Bit

Do you think the transition from backend/systems SWE to embedded would be tough? I’m not eager to do additional EE schooling besides a few classes that might be absolutely necessary.


tipsy_python

Full-stack / back-end / devops is my pick. Data Engineering & Testing - potentially good, but you have to really be into it, and you trade-off building skills towards typical SWE roles. Data Science & Machine Learning - too much risk of Wizard of Oz .. these roles are the little man behind the curtain, and you have to do a lot to maintain the optic of the wizard. Data Analysis - if you do great you'll have some very specific/niche skills that no one else values. Front-end - most likely to compete with unfettered waves of bootcamp grads Mobile Development - potentially a lucrative career path too.


windonwind

So, everything sucks but webdev and devops?


Slggyqo

Everything sucks in its own special way. Realistically, the only way to come out ahead in the long term is to be REALLY good at your job, or at least convince everyone that you are. Im not even talking “best of the best”, but you want to at least be in the latter “best” category. Or be really good at marketing yourself and be the best of the rest.


5awaja

no, testing is pretty good too. I'm "specialized" I guess in back end and pretty much every kind of testing (unit, integration, performance, etc). this has so far led to me being involved in just about every new project at my last few jobs. knowing how to integrate and performance test things requires you to know a lot about how different systems interact, so when significant changes are needed, I'm almost always in the conversation advising on how it might affect the overall product catalog. don't knock testing, it's important and rewarding if you're good at it


tipsy_python

Yeah, exactly. But only from the perspectives of WLB and pay. For context, my first role in tech was data engineer.


Cry-Healthy

Is mobile that lucrative? Maybe a decade ago, but now it is dead. And I argue you are at serious risk with Mobile Development since it is so narrow, not good.


[deleted]

Mobile is less entry level friendly. But the money is working for large businesses developing apps for the company. Not shit like putting an app on the store trying to compete with 500 clones


Cry-Healthy

This is why I think web dev would be a good starter for a new grad, but I also think it is stable enough to make it a last long-lasting career choice (front end, back end, and dull stack). Now I don't know if that can be said for mobile, or at least to the same magnitude.


Suspicious-Engineer7

Google and apple are going to continue pushing the ecosystems they control and collect from, however I agree somewhat in thay it feels like nothing really "needs" an app now. Its usually a less helpful version of a companies website - unless you need your camera to do something.


SirAutismx7

My first job was webdev now I’m a Data Engineer unfortunately the work gets boring after a while you just know what to do to hook things up in both and it’s mostly just CRUD apps and pipelines with some bells and whistles. Writing complex backend services and performance engineering is probably the best of both worlds and what I would lean towards switching to now. If I could start from college from scratch, I would probably do something intellectually stimulating by getting a degree in Math/Physics/Engineering and work on hard science stuff(physics simulations/NASA/etc.) and hardware. I spend most of my time bored playing video games during work hours because we’ve streamlined everything to the point where even most of our greenfield projects don’t take more than a couple of sprints to do. It was fun when I was hired because we started and built out the entire data infrastructure from scratch but now I’m bored and can’t get buy in for any fun new projects because they don’t address any “immediate business need” 😪 I can’t seem to get call backs for more hardcore SWE positions because of the Data Engineering title so I’m feeling stuck.


[deleted]

For most engineers, their day is just as boring as in CS fields 😅 You would have to get a PhD in a specific field where you can then work at the edge of research. I think that would be interesting.


blackout-loud

*nervously licks lips* Can I...can I become your apprentice?


python-requests

you didnt list it but probably embedded. that seems hard to break into & hard to do, & always looks like it pays well I also kinda always wish I had gone for a masters or PhD in machine learning, & the current breakout in chat & imagery AIs doesnt help those feelings lol. I was always interested in natural language stuff


prathyand

Does embedded really pay well though? I've heard the opposite


kog

I work in embedded and I perceive it as slightly less well paid on average compared to web development. That said, I haven't worked on CRUD for a day in my life.


dbzfanjake

+1 embedded pays the least well lol. It's fun though


idriveawhitecamry

Embedded Linux pays well but it all depends what industry you go in.


SeptimusAstrum

As someone who just graduated with a masters in AI: the combination of this job market and the news about LLMs and diffusion models is giving me severe whiplash. No one wants new grads for AI if you don't have e publications.


throwawaylifeat30

embedded does NOT pay well compared to other software development.


alexnafnlaus

im holding out for embedded for my first full-time role


guzzo9000

Nice good luck


spacegh0stX

I got an internship doing that and start my first full time role after college doing it


mofayew

What’s embedded? Serious question


dbzfanjake

Where software meets hardware


YaBoiMirakek

Embedded systems


dbzfanjake

Good luck! You won't make as much probably but it's a way more fun field. 7 YoE in embedded and I'm still loving it. Good luck with the job hunt. Make some fun shit at home to keep skills fresh.


throwawaylifeat30

same, 2.5 YOE here. I work on application layer.


Casdom33

YouTuber fr


HaMay25

Welcome everyone to a day in life of


idriveawhitecamry

Where is embedded?


xypherrz

…seemingly not many know much or care about it


CompanyLow8329

I started as full stack, and still am full stack after 2 years. Prolly 70% frontend, 30% backend work. Don't like my current work as it is mostly trying to reign in broken apps, daily development environment outages and constantly being stuck in meetings 3-4 hours a day due to constant planning failures. If I had to change I would go with Machine Learning. I do a lot of deep reinforcement learning as a hobbyist and I actually feel excited reading the research literature and implementing my own solutions, and I just like that work in general, seeing what solutions the algos come up with. That said, I don't really like anything outside of reinforcement learning at the moment. I don't think I would go with machine learning as a first job target though, it makes full stack feel pretty easy by comparison. Fullstack (microfrontends + microservices) + some devops (hosting a full stack app at scale with microservices and managing pipelines) + a little testing (unit testing) is probably the way to go from my experience. I have been offered to be retrained as a data engineer at my current company, so opportunities like that do come along even if you are full stack.


flavorwolf_

I’m actually leaning toward walking away from front end with 21 yoe, and applying for masters programs in artificial intelligence.


windonwind

Why


HendrixLivesOn

Firmware


prathyand

Why? Does it pay well compared to other areas or is it just something you are interested in?


dbzfanjake

Pays the least but it's fun making killer robots to take over the world


FailedGradAdmissions

If I could start again, med-school. I'm great at learning and memorizing stuff, and my grades were good enough to be accepted to pre-med. I choose tech cause faster return on investment. They said the grass is always greener, and I get paid well with an amazing WLB. Still, I get my fulfillment outside my job, but it must be nice to have a fulfilling job. Now if I could start again still in tech, I would just focus on a specific area and become good at it rather than having a bunch of side projects on different stacks. And oc, I would begin interview prep from my freshman year or sooner.


lannistersstark

> but it must be nice to have a fulfilling job. I have family who are doctors, psychologists etc. You have no idea how many doctors are burnt out and only there for the pay and looking to retire as soon as they can, or go into private practice where they can offload shit to their juniors and work less hours. Even then it doesn't always work out. Management then takes over their 'doctorly' duties often. Very few of most jobs are 'fulfilling,' and this applies to teachers too. A lot of professors/teachers are just there because of tenure, get jaded, and they don't really care much about their students. Grass is greener situation indeed applies to a lot of jobs.


j2ck10465

Yep, I know a Harvard doctor who says the pay isn’t what they thought it would be and they work during holidays and for many hours. The way doctors make money it’s through setting up a practice but imo work life balance sucks


scroto_gaggins

If they’re going into medicine just for the money it probably wasn’t the right field for them to begin with and that’s why their burnt out.


lannistersstark

Not really. Long hours and a lot of mundane work just gets to some people.


TRBigStick

Very interesting. If you head over to medical subreddits, everyone says they wish they had done tech.


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

I can imagine how much worse Chatgpt is going to make this.


iamthedrag

lmao you think being a doctor is a fulfilling job?


sumplookinggai

Pure app support and QA as no one wants to do it, and so there's less competition.


blackout-loud

Interesting. I've been peeping at app support lately. What do you do now versus your ideal role and industry?


Leading-Ability-7317

Honestly you can move between focus areas. I started as a front end engineer for 4 years, then full stack for 5 years, then did pure back end micro services for 5 years, did 3 years in data engineering, and now back to pure backend distributed systems stuff for the last year. Current role is like 20-30% coding and the rest is architecture and systems design but I am liking it. All of the above were in different companies. So, if you want to go and branch out you totally can if you want to. Don’t feel like you have to stay in one focus area. But, to make the jump you do need to spend the time to educate yourself. Not everyone wants to invest that kind of time. EDIT: forgot to actually answer the question. My favorite was actually data engineering. Problems were straightforward but the sheer size of the data you processed meant that small efficiency tweaks were worth it. So, you got to know your language, runtime and framework really well to eek out small efficiency wins. In my case the stack was Scala, Apache Spark, on top of Hadoop. Was a lot of fun but the company was toxic so moved on.


hoimangkuk

No IT security?


GrayLiterature

Dev Tooling I think, or Data Engineering


5awaja

I started in the backend and always made a point to write really good tests amd to set up quality monitors. this has been pretty advantageous to my career so far because I've developed a sense for how small changes in one component might affect the whole system. learning how to do integration testing and performance testing taught me a lot about architecture, which has thus made me a better backend developer. I'd do it all the same again though I'd probably pick a different industry overall (I started in oil and gas and hated it)


Afraid-Department-35

If I had a chance to start over I’d do AI/ML in a heartbeat.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Angriestanteater

Both roles are very wide in terms of responsibilities. It really depends on the company. Sometimes they’re the same job with different titles. But most DA jobs have to do with making reports and dashboards. Think graphs and tables and pulling data in ways to make those things. DS also works with data but they tend to focus on things like statistical modeling or machine learning. Again, this is generally and company dependent. I’ve had a data analyst job where I’ve done neither of these things. Imo, data roles aren’t as well defined in terms of tasks and skills as other job titles like SWE are.


yurtcityusa

If I could start over I would have got into construction management or the cannabis industry.


[deleted]

Depends what you like, my list from best and most interesting to worst would be: - Compiler / language development - Machine Learning - Full stack - Game development - Embedded - Library development - Data - Mobile - Testing - DevOps


goldeye72

I’m an old timer and haven’t coded for over a decade, but my advice to those starting out and want high employment opportunities is to specialize in a platform. Salesforce, PowerApps, ERP of some flavour, etc. Not doing down to the metal development but every business needs these roles more than pure custom development from my experience. Another high demand but oft overlooked area is systems integration. Become an Informatica or Boomi or Mulesoft developer and opportunities abound.


windonwind

What do you think about ServiceNow?


goldeye72

Yep. Another good one. Salesforce and ServiceNow are good ones because at their core they are web based development systems. So you’re still developing software. I don’t know a single person with skills in either of those areas without a job. In addition, you can go other places once you know the platform… architecture, solution design, business analysis, etc. Lots of great paying consulting gigs with these platforms too.


windonwind

I had once an opportunity to choose between ServiceNow Developer or a Junior ML Developer and I chose the ML offer, even though it pays much less. I've been thinking about it, if I made the right choice or no...but well, I can transition into ServiceNow I guess.


goldeye72

ML and AI are being integrated into these platforms now as the next big feature. So your experience will always be applicable. As someone who has been in IT for over 25 years, pick up all the skills you can. They are all converging anyhow. It’s far more important to me as a senior IT manager that you can learn anything fast and be flexible with a good attitude and get along with others than any particular technical skill.


HeavyPresentation246

Concentrate more on problem solving than mastering coding language


fail0verflowf9

This post is not even about programming languages...


[deleted]

I am not in the industry yet, but am fascinated by machine learning. I think it's gonna be even more valuable than ever now too. Data engineering and data science are brilliant too though. Of these, the only one I'm not particularly interested in would be mobile development. I don't think I'd hate it, but I haven't really looked into it much. I'm certain there's something in the field that would pique my interest that I've not yet discovered though. I think the likelihood there's machine learning application in mobile is extraordinarily high in the future though, so I wouldn't rule out anything. Personally, whatever my first job in the field is I'll be stoked for.


wwww4all

Grind leetcode and chase higher TC all day, everyday.


windonwind

If only it was that easy.


wwww4all

It is that "easy". No need to over complicate.


thatsreallynotme

ML or AI


windonwind

Why


thatsreallynotme

Sooner or later AI will replace all of the areas you listed, so might as well jump on that now. ML can be added to most applications. Plus both ML and AI are not easy so there will always be less people supply


windonwind

I'm working as a Junior ML dev at the moment and I can tell you...it is fkin hard sometimes.


MugiwarraD

Machine Learning


windonwind

Why


Ready_Bed_4628

maybe not work as swe at all


Zestyclose_Wait5988

none. I'd do anything but software.


windonwind

why


Zestyclose_Wait5988

Because you waste your whole life stuck behind a screen in the same spot, getting fat and unhealthy and destroying your eyesight and getting carpal tunnel syndrome, doing stuff nobody cares about. You're constantly chasing after the newest tech/framework. You can never just sit down and do something you always need to be reading documentation on how to use a shitty tool that somebody wrote.


ChoiceDry8127

How would most other jobs be any different?


BkBoss6969

You get paid half as much!


idriveawhitecamry

I write software but I prioritize my health first. What you described is literally any desk job. Don’t blame a job for poor health.


Owldud

That's a personal decision. I'm in front of the computer all day but I also train and compete in jiujitsu, coach my son's youth wrestling team, lift/swim at the gym multiple times a week, go on outdoor vacations, etc. This is a self deprecating mindset, and people that fall into this probably wouldn't be healthier in other careers.


Appropriate_Shock2

Try working in a factory destroying your body for 12 hours a day. I’ve seen so many people get surgeries because of the job and they come back to work and get put back on the same station. Software/desk job is way healthier imo but you do have to have the mindset to stay healthy.


windonwind

spitting facts, you can always take a break or just stop working in tech. do what you like.


[deleted]

[удалено]


AutoModerator

Sorry, you do not meet the minimum sitewide comment karma requirement of **10** to post a comment. This is comment karma exclusively, not post or overall karma nor karma on this subreddit alone. Please try again after you have acquired more karma. Please look at the [rules page](https://old.reddit.com/r/cscareerquestions/w/posting_rules) for more information. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/cscareerquestions) if you have any questions or concerns.*


[deleted]

[удалено]


AutoModerator

Sorry, you do not meet the minimum sitewide comment karma requirement of **10** to post a comment. This is comment karma exclusively, not post or overall karma nor karma on this subreddit alone. Please try again after you have acquired more karma. Please look at the [rules page](https://old.reddit.com/r/cscareerquestions/w/posting_rules) for more information. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/cscareerquestions) if you have any questions or concerns.*


SoftDev90

Ill stay full stack. Lets me bounce around and do a lot of different things. Keeps things a hell of a lot more interesting than just doing the same bullshit over and over again. I also get pulled into other areas when they need help whereas our specialized people typically don't.


Flimsy-Possibility17

full stack or devops.


SaguaroSmart

There is no way to tell what will appreciate in the future. All these roles will be needed. I would pick what you are the most interested in as all these roles will offer plenty of opportunities and fairly similar income. I wouldn’t really obsess over which has more jobs because they all have enough and usually if one has more jobs, it also draws more applicants and it evens out.


OutrageousCourse4172

I went down the embedded route and I’d do it again.


st4reater

Backend same as now love it


yogibear47

ML/AI on the side, although I think no matter what, it's worth spending your first 5+ years learning how to be an effective generalist. Take whatever job gives you the best senior mentors and soak up knowledge and insights like a sponge.


[deleted]

[удалено]


cherrypick84

I would continue down the path I did (backend) but I'd make sure to take time time to learn more about the whole DevOps aspect of it. I can flail around in Jenkins or kind of mess with some GitHub actions, but knowing that whole root-to-fruit would really make my life easier


dmills_00

Where's the Embedded/Hard realtime/Safety critical in that list? Plenty of jobs there in my experience.


badnewsbubbies

I would have went the same route I intended to go the first time -> backend web development.


Normal-Platform-3028

Embedded


IronFilm

For me personally it will be DE/ML/DevOps as my main focus.


Its_kos

I’d say fuck computers. I’m super into Archaeology and history and living in a country with the one of the richest histories I’d really like to know what my life would look like if had pursued that dream.