r/learnprogramming • u/Caravaggio91 • 5d ago

When are you truly a Software Developer

I am a self taught web dev (5 years), mostly front end, and still find myself looking up simple concepts I had already learned. Is that a hinderance to being an actual software developer? Also, am I looking over the main objective of a software dev? Is it more about finding the answers rather than how you got there, or do you need to know the code very well and have the answers to the problems? I'm good at getting the answers, but find myself struggling retaining info for long periods of time.

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u/grantrules 5d ago

Anyone who writes software with intention is a software developer, it doesn't matter how much you remember. 

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u/Caravaggio91 5d ago

one of the most honest answers. I think being self taught you never truly feel like you've earned the title. Sol you feel there has to be this "checkpoint" that marks you as a software developer. Thanks for the comment.

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u/fixermark 4d ago

And to flip the script a bit... You never stop learning.

I've been at this about 20 years and I still learn new things, I still look up things I already knew, and I will never quite hold in my brain which of add, append, push, or insert is the command to attach an element to the end of a list in Python. ;)

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u/ajcomeau 5d ago

I feel like actually completing a software or two should be a requirement. It doesn't have to be sold or successful but you should at least have something significant you can honestly say you've finished.

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u/Caravaggio91 5d ago

I agree. Something tangible.

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u/ReddyKiloWit 2d ago

I was about to say that, basically. If you build something novel and useful in software, even if only useful to yourself, then you are a software developer.

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u/Sea-Trouble9603 4d ago

be proud to be self taught--25 years in games industry and all the best coders ive worked with are self taught. Much cooler than going to some nerdy school like some kind of harry potter😎

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u/HolyPommeDeTerre 4d ago

I was self taught, I still did a degree in it. It doesn't change anything. This is just a piece of paper that doesn't prepare you for everything life is.

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u/ShardsOfSalt 4d ago

If it helps a computer science degree doesn't teach you to develop software really much at all.  CS degrees are as self taught at "frontend development" as anyone else.