Types of Software Engineering Roles

“Explore your own interests within computer science and software. There’s a lot of different roles and projects you could work in/on within SWE. Being able to express your areas of interest will help you get placed in the right roles. In the long-run too, it’s more important that you find a field of interest that you enjoy working in than to just earn an internship offer.” (Software Development Engineer Intern at Amazon, Harvard Class of 2022)

Software engineering is a broad field, and different companies may offer different specializations depending on their needs. The following is a list of three of the most common roles.

Front-End Engineers

Front-end engineers work on the user interface and user experience. They ensure that the user interface is aesthetic and can run on multiple browsers. Front end engineers typically work with CSS, HTML, Javascript, and other UI frameworks.

Back-End Engineers

Back-end engineers specialize in the design, logic, and implementation of the software that runs behind the scenes and executes requests. Back end engineers may work with languages such as Java, C, C++, Python, etc.

Full-Stack Engineers

Full-stack engineers work on both the front-end and the back-end, and thus have the skills to create a fully functioning web application.