Ask HN: How to go from tech-adjacent to SWE?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40979197

by jnac • 2 years ago

1 1 2 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

What projects, study plans, books, etc. would you recommend to someone that (1) has undergrad CS experience but (2) is in a non-SWE role at a software company?

PaulHoule• 2 years ago

It's not a bad idea to try a "whiteboard coding" course such as Leetcode or HackerRank. It's helpful for interviews but also for coding: if you took CS it will help you remember what you forgot, if you didn't take CS you really will benefit. Personally I found HackerRank's Python course to be 100% fun while it sharpened my Python. (Other courses were fine but the Python course had no sharp edges.)

I think the best thing anyone can do is take on ambitious side projects, what they are depends on you. Ideally these projects are fun and self-motivation and build your skills: writing about these projects online and putting up demos is the best thing you can do to get inbound interest short of developing a strong professional network directly. Also if you are talking to recruiters or anybody else you can sound smart, capable and confident if you've got interesting projects under your belt.

Ask HN: How to go from tech-adjacent to SWE?

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