Table of Contents
Introduction
A software engineer’s salary and job satisfaction match up to the best jobs from other fields. It is one of the most satisfying jobs out there, provided you love to code and solve problems. Most applications used by the public on a daily basis such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Whatsapp, YouTube, Google Maps, Swiggy, Zomato, Dunzo are all developed by skilled software engineers. SDEs or Software Development Engineers are working on incremental innovations every day in their respective fields. This article will give you enough insight into the job roles of a software engineer and you will find out about an average software engineer’s salary in India. This article will also cover the skills you need to gather in order to become a good candidate for the job role of a software engineer and will also let you in about the future career options that you will have after you have achieved the role of a software engineer.
Role of a Software Engineer
A software engineer is basically employed to design, develop, test, debug and maintain software systems. Software engineers are taught to grasp and evaluate a problem by utilising their training, learning, analysis and technical concepts, regardless of the specific skill area. They approach all difficulties in a systematic manner, employing scientific methods to uncover many options and answers (or solutions).
Here are tasks a software engineer generally has to perform:
- Design: The company provides its engineers with the requirements (user requirements). You can consider this as a blueprint for the next stage that is the stage of development. You can say that most of the software is developed in this stage without writing a single piece of real code.
- Develop: The design is basically converted into the software, i.e. the design of the software with correct implementation using codes.
- Test: The goal of testing (Developmental Testing) is to offer information to the Project Coordinator or the Director of Operations so they can track the progress of the work, identify the substantial problems with the software, analyze how a system will meet critical criteria, and decrease the potential menace that can be caused by an imperfect software.
- Debug: The purpose of debugging is to find and identify a bug, isolate it, fix the bug by optimal measures, and test the software again to repeat the process till a bug-free application is obtained
Salary of a Software Engineer
According to Glassdoor, the average software engineer salary in India is 6 Lakh INR per annum. A software engineer’s salary increases exponentially according to the level of your seniority and experience as a software engineer. A Senior Software Engineer in India earns about 10 Lakh INR annually on average and software engineers with more experience earn an average of 27 lakhs per annum. The salary ranges according to the value you bring into the company as a Software Engineer. it is all about how much value you can provide to your company and how good you are at your job.
Skills required to become a Software Engineer
There are plenty of skills that you would require to become a software engineer, both technical and non-technical. Here are a few of them below:
- In-depth understanding of Data Structures and Algorithms: We know that Data Structures and Algorithms are the basic building blocks of Computer Science and Coding. Knowing what Data Structure to use and where to use it is a necessity for becoming a good Software Engineer. It is also necessary to use these Data Structures in a way that is the most efficient, and you would need to be well-versed with Algorithms and the time-complexity of these Algorithms that you use. In case you do not have your Data Structures and Algorithm concepts strengthened, you can always visit the link below to gain a certain amount of confidence in this subject:
https://www.codingninjas.com/codestudio/guided-paths/data-structures-algorithms
- Coding languages: It is of no debate that a Software Engineer has to know a certain number of languages, be it Java, C, C++, or Python. If it is software that is being deployed on a website as a web application then you might need to learn the languages used on a website as well. Being extremely good in one coding language, say Java, for example, will make it really easy for you to learn other coding languages. It is basically implementing the same concepts, but using different syntax.
We have a few courses that we offer in case you want to widen your knowledge of coding languages. You can click the links below to visit these courses:
https://www.codingninjas.com/courses/java-data-structures-and-algorithms(for Java)
https://www.codingninjas.com/courses/c-plus-plus-data-structures-and-algorithms(for C++)
https://www.codingninjas.com/courses/python-data-structures-and-algorithms(for Python)
- Understanding the concepts of OOPS Programming: OOPS is the acronym for Object-Oriented Programming Systems. As a software engineer, it is a must that you are well-acquainted with the key concepts of OOPS programming. They are Inheritance, Polymorphism, Abstraction and Encapsulation. Understanding these concepts well will allow you to write code that can be used by other software engineers working with you with ease, you can make your code more understandable, organised and even make it reusable.
- Testing: People usually look down upon this skill, but it is one of the most valuable ones to have. The software cannot be deployed to the public or to the client without testing as this is the stage where bugs are fixed in software. The engineer has to run a vast number of inputs and produce optimal outputs for the same. Let us say that you have software that calculates the BMI(Body Mass Index) of a human. Without testing the software with ‘height’, ‘weight’, and ‘age’ inputs, you cannot find out if the software works perfectly. The code written for the software might have no syntax errors but runtime errors might show up and ‘exceptions’ need to be handled properly in order to ensure that the software runs optimally.
Apart from all the technical skills necessary, you need to have good problem-solving skills(i.e. Provide the correct solution which consumes the least resources and the least amount of time). You also need to be a good team player as software might contain millions of lines of code. You cannot write thousands of lines of code by yourself and will be compelled to work with a team or a couple of teams handling different parts of the same software, so good communication skills are also a necessity in order to interact with your team and the other teams as well.
Key Takeaway
As a fresher, your salary as a software engineer might not be that attractive but this job role is ensured to give you high long-term returns both in terms of salary and career growth. You’d be working with the fundamentals of Computer Science and as technology evolves, so will you in terms of keeping up with the new technology. With even 2 years of experience and the right guidance, you will be able to increase your salary by a substantial amount.
