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What does it take to become a good software engineer at this time?

2•saketlovescode•2h ago
The question that has been bugging me a lot is what it actually takes to be a top 1% software engineer. Should I read a lot of OG books and try to implement compilers, databases and languages etc.. Or should I just learn a technology like Java, Python and find a job and just grow in my org and then switch for better roles.

I would love to know perspective of Senior engineers here. What worked for them, how they learned things and mastered it. And, in this world, where AI can just do trivial things for you, how does one get good at anything?

Comments

daviddever23box•2h ago
People skills are far more valuable than hoarded technical skillsets. Learn to work top-down as well as bottom-up.
linguae•1h ago
I wholeheartedly agree. It’s not enough to be good on the technical side; it’s also important to be good at interpersonal relationships and understanding the big picture of the organization where one is employed. I’ve found this to be true in both industry and academia.
linguae•1h ago
“In this world, where AI can just do trivial things for you, how does one get good at anything?”

You get good by doing non-trivial things. Consider developers like Linus Torvalds and Jeff Dean. Not every developer has the skill to write an operating system or to design and implement a distributed system. Another way of putting it: it is one thing to use ChatGPT, but it’s an entirely different matter to have the skills to make your own LLM.

If you want to stand out as a developer, don’t shy away from in-depth studies of hard topics.

DavidCanHelp•20m ago
I've got some resources that might help you: (https://github.com/cloudstreet-dev/Computers) (https://github.com/cloudstreet-dev/Soft-Skills-the-Hard-Way)

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