Ken Nelson

I had the great pleasure of teaching a Dixie College Software Engineering class this morning. Their Professor had invited me to discuss “the real world” of software engineering.

I called my talk “What College Won’t Teach You About Software Engineering”.

Sub-titled:  “or stuff I’ve learned the hard way in 30+ years of programming”

Highlights:

• Difference between Programming and Software Engineering
• Real engineers know what they are building, how they are building it, and that it will work
• The Real World Is Big
• Write tight code and expect it to be stressed in a reality you never saw coming
• Be Analytical
• Numbers don’t lie to you.
• Know Why Things Happen – every line of code has a purpose.
• Don’t stop debugging until you know why it failed, or why it now works
• Ask for Help/Advice
• A productive team consults but doesn’t blame each other
• Nothing is Personal
• Life is too short to take things personally
• Other People Write Code Too
• And there is a 100% chance you will maintain it
• Your Boss Isn’t as Dumb as You think
• If he actually is…. LEAVE ASAP
• Write Clearly/Spell Correctly
• Why should I trust your code if I can’t understand your writing?
• Get out if you don’t love this stuff
• All of you are the smartest people you know, you can do anything, so don’t do what you don’t love

Those are the highlights. Fill that in with anecdotes, questions, and 10 minutes from a new hire here talking about his first experiences and you have 1.5 hours (-:

I’m told it went well and that I should expect to do it again next year.