How do software engineers and other tech professionals learn how to code? As you might expect, there’s no one preferred method—no matter what your education or background, you can find something that works for you.
The latest edition of Stack Overflow’s massive Developer Survey, which queries more than 65,000 software developers about everything from their education to the tools they use in their jobs, has a nifty breakdown of how tech professionals are learning to code. Here’s the chart:
As you might expect, online resources are popular… but which ones? Fortunately, Stack Overflow asked that question, too:
Some interesting things to note here: while some of these methods have been around for eons (technical documentation, written tutorials, blogs), a growing percentage of tech professionals are turning to AI to fill out their technical knowledge. Like anything else in life, AI as a training tool has its upsides and downsides; for example, you can quickly spin up a lengthy answer to a customized query (good!) but there’s no way for the AI to know if what it’s feeding you is correct (bad!). From a coding perspective, AI can allow tech professionals to generate and check code snippets, which can come in useful when building software for the first time.
Speaking of AI, if you’re interested in participating in this burgeoning field, there are several skills you can learn that will give you an advantage when applying for AI-related jobs, including (but definitely not limited to) data analytics and critical thinking. But whatever your current career path, it’s critical to never stop learning, especially given how fast the tech industry is evolving on a weekly basis—by growing your skills and knowledge, you’ll open up new opportunities for jobs and career advancement.
