Career in Software Engineering   Software engineering is that aspect of engineering that deals with the practical application of scientific knowledge in the design, construction, and validation of computer programs and the associated documentation required to develop, operate, and maintain them. It is a branch of electrical engineering that is becoming increasingly important as more and more disciplines require one form of software package or another to perform routine tasks and as programmable microelectronic systems are used in more and more applications.

The role of a software engineer should not be confused with that of a computer scientist; the software engineer is a practitioner, not a theoretician. A software engineer should have good computer-programming skill and be familiar with programming languages, in particular C++, which is becoming increasingly popular. Because hardware and software are closely interlinked, it is essential that a software engineer have a thorough understanding of hardware design. Most important, the software engineer should have some specialized knowledge of the area in which the software development skill is to be applied.

All in all, the field of software engineering offers a great career to those who enjoy programming and developing software packages. The higher rewards will go to those having the best preparation, with the most interesting and challenging opportunities going to those with graduate education.