A friend of mine was seeking for a job as financial adviser for a long time. He told me once : “You are a programmer, you will always find a job”. Is this true? What makes the tech sector continue to dominate the landscape of hot jobs with high pay in 2017? Getting into software development may not be so hard as you might think. There are countless sources to learn and only few things you should watch about on your way top.

According to the rank list of careers site Glassdoor for 2017, 6 of the top 10 best jobs in America are in the tech sector. Being part of this industry myself I can confirm that software development is booming right now and you can make a lot of money with programming. Big companies have large IT departments. Small companies and start-ups require at least a website. Who doesn’t need a tech guy nowadays?

Where Should I Start

Software development is a huge field. It is so dynamic, that once you finish reading a programming book about some JavaScript framework for example, the book will be already outdated. The diversity of software technologies is so enormous, you can not learn it all in your entire lifetime. And you don’t have to. You need to choose your path carefully and follow your decision along the way. Here are some of the software programming areas you can excel in:

• Back-End development – you will write server side code and algorithms. Persisting data in databases or files will be part of your responsibilities
• Front-End developer – you will create the visual part of the software and present the content to the user
• Mobile App developer – we can’t live without our mobile devices and always need more apps. Mobile development is a trendy branch in software development in the last 8 years
• Data Scientist – Big data makes big money! This is the top trend job right now. You will work with a huge amount of computer data, analyze it end extract the important stuff
• AI developer – a trendy profession. Big companies try to integrate various AI solutions into their software and it gets more and more popular

I can add many more to the list. The good news is – you can’t go wrong with any of those. The golden rule for choosing your professional path as developer is : do what you love to do. Do not learn a programming language just because it is popular today. This may not be the case in a year or two. As in all other professions it doesn’t matter what certificates or university degree you have. All what matters is how good and passioned you are about the things you do.

Getting Computer Science Degree at University

If you can afford it, universities are the best place to learn and become a software developer. You will also meet interesting people and soulmates you can work with in the feature. But to be honest – think of your university degree as a ticket to get invited to a job interview. After this point it’s up to you. Nobody cares if you were best in school if you can’t contribute to the company.

Attending Programming Courses (online)

Online courses are great for beginners. They are well organized and led by professionals. You can ask questions and make your first steps under the supervision of experienced programmers. Gaining knowledge online is the preferable way to learn for many people who have a tight time-schedule. Have in mind, that programming courses may get expensive though.

Reading Tutorials

Online tutorials are the ultimate source of knowledge. There are tons of articles and examples online. You will find such variety of topics that no university or course can ever completely cover. No matter how experienced you are, you have to reed about new technologies to upgrade your skills on a daily basis. To be a software developer is maybe the most evolving and exhausting profession in the world. Your skills today will be outdated tomorrow. Be prepared to constantly read and learn new stuff.

Start Your First Project Today

To be able to create things, that never existed before is an exciting adventure. You can try it yourself. Find a simple tutorial online and follow the steps to write your first program. Look for example at Getting Started With Java section. You may be surprised how easy it is. Stick with very simple projects at the beginning. If you like it and it makes you feel great to be the master of your computer, than nothing can stop you become a professional software developer. And yes – you will make some good money too.