What a software developer really does
You figure out what software needs to do, build it, and keep it working when real people use it.
FieldTech and design
Preparation (O*NET Job Zone)Considerable preparation needed
What the work involves
What fills a typical week for software developers, built from O*NET occupation data.
- Read a ticket or request and work out what is actually needed and whether it fits the time available.
- Write and change code to fix bugs, add features and make things faster.
- Write tests so changes do not break what already works.
- Talk with other engineers, product managers and analysts about how a system should be designed.
- Dig through logs and data to understand how the system behaves under real load.
- Write short status updates and design notes for teammates and other departments.
- Review teammates' code and get yours reviewed.
What the days are like
What people in the job know
- Coding is a team sport. Your code is read, reviewed and changed by others constantly. Work With or Contribute to a Work Group or Team: 71% extremely important (O*NET Work Context, 15-1252.00)
- Many developers do not sit near their teammates at all, so clear written communication matters. Physical Proximity: 61% don't work near other people (beyond 100 ft.) (O*NET Work Context, 15-1252.00)
- Hours are steadier than the stereotype. Most report a normal 40 hour week, but deadlines still arrive weekly. Duration of Typical Work Week: 90% 40 hours; Time Pressure: 40% once a week or more but not every day (O*NET Work Context, 15-1252.00)
- You get real freedom in how you solve problems, which also means owning the result. Freedom to Make Decisions: 41% a lot of freedom, 46% some freedom (O*NET Work Context, 15-1252.00)
- Precision matters. Small mistakes in logic can quietly break things for thousands of users. Importance of Being Exact or Accurate: 41% extremely important, 44% very important (O*NET Work Context, 15-1252.00)
How people get into it
O*NET places Software Developers in Job Zone 4. Among surveyed workers, 85% say a bachelor's degree is required, 5% an associate's degree and 5% a master's degree. Most enter through a computer science or related degree plus internships; some come through bootcamps or self taught portfolios, though the O*NET data shows a degree is the norm.
The Firstday trial, easy to hard
Three simulated tasks at Parcelpath, a fictional company, with AI coworkers who message you, react to your work and coach with questions. Nobody scores you.
What the trial can't show: The trial uses a simplified browser code editor with a small prewritten codebase and test runner. It cannot show working in a large codebase for months, real deploy pipelines, being on call at night, or the slow learning curve of a new system. The O*NET supplemental tasks about supervising staff and training users are also left out. It also leaves out the AI coding assistants, CI pipelines and multi day review cycles many teams now use, so the pace here is compressed.
Reading about it is one thing.
Find out how the work feels to you before you spend on a degree, course or job change. Your first trial is free.
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Job details on this page are built from O*NET OnLine, 15-1252.00. This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.