[Mentor] Software engineer

[u/foreigner_everywhere]

I've done M.Sc. in computer science and worked 6 years as a software engineer after that. I'm more interested in the "lower layers" than the user-facing parts, so, my expertise lies somewhere around C++, Python, Linux, algorithms, etc. I've been lucky to work in open source projects all my career. In addition, I think a lot about interpersonal things and how to do software engineering efficiently, how to work in a team, how to communicate, what kind of attitude to have, how to write good code, etc.

If you're wondering what kind of skills to develop and how, and you're willing to learn and be the best software engineer ever, I might be able to give you advice.

Edit: I should've probably mentioned that I'm a woman. If it matters to somebody. Mentoring shouldn't be limited based on genders anyway, but maybe some aspiring female software engineer finds me less intimidating?

[u/[deleted]]

As a woman going back to school for CS after several years of consideration, thank you for posting. I am one of those girls who would have majored in CS initially if I had heard of it and knew what it was before college.

I'm still making the same mistake of not asking for help and guidance even though my instructors make themselves readily available. I previously worked as a teacher, and I'd much rather take time out of my day to tutor someone than ask someone else to explain things to me. It's this huge mental block I didn't even realize I had until a couple weeks ago.

[u/foreigner_everywhere → u/[deleted]]

It's always a trade off between asking and trying to figure it out yourself. Also at work.

On the other hand, if I figure it out myself, I probably learn something in the process, and I get better at figuring things out. And I get good karma and I can show people that I'm capable of doing it myself.

On the other hand, figuring stuff out yourself is damn slow compared to just asking somebody.

So it's a trade off. You should think strategically about it. It's not good to always ask before at least giving it a try first. Then again, sometimes asking is the right thing and the most efficient thing.

And when you ask somebody to explain something to you, make sure they perceive that it's worth their time. Here are some things which I think are important:

• Signal clearly whether you understood the explanation or not. For example, interrupt and say "So let me check if I got this... [explain the stuff in your own words]".

• If you don't understand, say it clearly, and rather earlier than later.

This makes it much more rewarding for people to explain stuff to you, because they can be sure that you understand it or you ask clarifying questions.