New Software Engineer versus Experienced Software Engineer

New Software Engineer

A new Software Engineer may do the following.

1. The new Software Engineer spends hours or perhaps even days writing a new application just to get to the point where they have an application that should run.

2. The new Software Engineer begins to test the new application, fully expecting it to work.

3. The new Software Engineer is surprised to learn that the application does not work at all.

4. The new Software Engineer reviews the source code of the application hoping to deduce why the application is not working only to conclude that it is one of the unfathomable mysteries of the universe.

5. The new Software Engineer then begins debugging the application out of desperation.

6. Hours or even days later the new Software Engineer has finally fixed all known issues and concludes that the application is now working as expected.

7. The new Software Engineer sends the new application to Quality Assurance for testing fully expecting Quality Assurance to pass all test cases.

8. The new Software Engineer is shocked to learn that one or more test cases failed.

9. The new Software Engineer begins to suffer from impostor syndrome.

Experienced Software Engineer

An experienced Software Engineer may do the following.

1. The experienced Software Engineer spends hours or perhaps even days writing a new application just to get to the point where they have an application that should run.

2. The experienced Software Engineer begins to test the new application, fully expecting it to work.

3. The experienced Software Engineer is surprised to learn that the application does work with a few minor issues.

4. The experienced Software Engineer reviews the source code of the application hoping to deduce why the application is working nearly as expected only to conclude that it is one of the unfathomable mysteries of the universe.

5. The experienced Software Engineer then begins debugging the application out of desperation.

6. Hours or even days later the experienced Software Engineer is finally satisfied that the new application is working nearly as expected and begins resolving the few minor issues they found.

7. A few hours or days later they feel that they finally have something that is ready for testing.

8. The experienced Software Engineer sends the new application to Quality Assurance for testing fully expecting Quality Assurance to fail at least half of the test cases.

9. The experienced Software Engineer is shocked to learn that most, if not all, of the test cases passed.

10. The experienced Software Engineer begins to suffer from impostor syndrome.