Saturday, June 16, 2012

The Roles Of Software Engineers

By Tom Doerr


Software engineers specialize in designing and developing software applications. They are mainly trained in mathematics and computer science. The knowledge and skills gained from this training is necessary in the design, construction and deployment of these applications.

With the advancement of information systems, they have become a very important component of any organization. The applications they design are used by a range of users ranging from sole proprietor businesses to large multinational corporations. Examples of applications designed include middleware, network control systems, computer games and business applications among others. They also need adequate training in computer hardware besides the theoretical knowledge in software to be able to deal with application problems.

To develop an application, the specific need of the end user has be identified and analyzed. The design should be designed to address the specific need. Applications are basically sets of instructions to a computer. They are also known as algorithms. On paper, they may be represented as flow charts, diagrams or other illustration. Before deployment, the applications have to be converted to computer language. This is known as programming or coding.

There are two categories of these experts. The first category is that of applications engineers. These look at applications from the perspective of the end user. They identify the specific needs and then design and construct applications to meet them. They are also involved in the maintenance of these applications. The end user is presented with a packaged computer application or they may request that the application be customized based on the requirements of their business or organization.

Systems engineers are the other group. These construct, maintain and expend computer systems in an organization. They ensure that there is coordination between different departments. This may include registration processes, billing, record keeping and retrieval and so on. They identify shortcomings in the systems and make appropriate improvements. They are also responsible for creating data security and assurance systems.

For a long time, software engineers have often been confused with another group of experts known as computer programmers. The difference is that the former are mainly involved in the designing applications while the latter convert the design to computer language. Programming languages used include C++, Python, C and Java. They also are involved in the expansion, update, repair and modification of existing programs.




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