In the middle of an interview yesterday, I was asked why I chose full stack web development over software engineering. I think I gave a terrible answer.
The good news: that interview wasn’t life or death; I didn’t even expect to interview this early on in my bootcamp process.
The even better news: I’ll be more prepared next time!
Here are some brief thoughts on the topic. Namely, I wanted to answer 2 questions - how are they different, and why did I choose web dev?
They’re similar:
Every web developer who is employable is a software engineer. -Firehose Project
They’re both programmers, and they both share a similar skill set of coding.
But the skill set is more narrow for web development:
One difference, however, is that web development…requires a more-limited skill set than software development. A working understanding of a few specific programming languages, such as JavaScript or Java, and a clear idea of the business end-goals of the webpages in question are often enough. DevMountain
When considering how they’re different, I need to remember the difference in the programming languages required.
Most software developers need to complete at least a bachelor’s degree, during which time they learn not only programming code, but also computer fundamentals, computer architecture, and data structure. DevMountain
With software development, it’s a more broad term. There’s a lot more to dig deep in and learn, and I could spend 4+ years learning it in school. For web development, I have the amazing opportunity to dig deep in Flatiron School.
With this in mind, I can answer both questions: what’s the difference, and why did I choose full stack. Software development is more broad, with additional lanaguges, fundamental background requirements, and applications. But I chose full stack web development because it is a growing industry (everything’s moving mobile!), and there are more resources for me to get started. Perhaps someday I will dig deeper in software development/engineering and broaden my knowledge.