How to Become a Software Developer

A free orientation to the software development profession — what the job actually looks like day to day, the tools and processes real teams use, and the different paths you could specialize in. No coding experience needed; start here if you're not sure where to begin.

Course content

1. 1. Glossary
2. 2. What Is Software Development, Really?
3. 3. How Software Gets Built: The Lifecycle
4. 4. Who's on a Software Team
5. 5. Where Developers Work
6. 6. The Command Line, Editors, and IDEs
7. 7. Version Control, in a Nutshell
8. 8. Tracking Work: Issues, Boards, and Tickets
9. 9. How Teams Communicate
10. 10. Quality in Practice: Testing, Code Review, and CI/CD
11. 11. Agile, Scrum, and Kanban — Survey Level
12. 12. Code Review and Collaboration Norms
13. 13. Working Remotely and Asynchronously
14. 14. Web Development: Frontend and Backend
15. 15. Other Major Paths: Mobile, Embedded, and More
16. 16. Building a Portfolio and Landing Your First Role