What is Software Engineering?

Software engineering was first mentioned as a term in the late 1950s to describe the production of computer programs. It became recognized as a legitimate career choice in the 1980s and is now considered one of the best fields in the American job market.

Software Design

Software engineers start work on a project by learning what the software is intended to do, and on what kind of device. It can be software to run a cell phone or a new type of database server for a business computer. In all cases, the engineer analyzes this information and comes up with an idea of what programs need to be written and how.

Software Development

The next step is to manufacture the software. This is achieved by the use of various programs called Integrated Development Environments (IDEs). Although an IDE can be as simple as an every day text editor for writing computer source code, a software engineer will often rely on a single tool that not only edits code, but also debugs and compiles it into an actual program.

Testing and Maintenance

After software is developed, it must be tested for bugs, updated and otherwise maintained. Software testers are part of the software engineering process. Many companies never allow programmers to test their own code, and will delegate the task to in-house software testing teams. Software engineers will, however, perform routine maintenance to add features or remove bugs, resulting in software revisions.