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readingHow to Become a Software Developer Without CS Degree: A Complete Guide
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How to Become a Software Developer Without CS Degree: A Complete Guide

With the increasing demand for software solutions in the digital world, the employment of developers, quality assurance, analysts, and testers is definitely going to increase.

In fact, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has also reported that the employment of developers is projected to grow 25% from 2021 to 2031. This is much faster compared to any other occupation. This means there is surely an opportunity to build a career in software development.

But how to become a software developer?

As a top customized-software development company, we know the complexities of the industry, the evolving tech trends, and the skills to navigate this dynamic field successfully. We also understand the commitment, passion, and continuous learning required to become a software developer. So, we are here to guide you every step of the way.

Here are the points you will learn:

  • Step-by-step process to become a software engineer
  • How much time does it take to become a software developer?
  • FAQs related to software development

Step-by-step Process to Become a Software Developer

  1. Get Clear With Basics of Computer Software Programming

    Computer programming is a process of writing code for a specific action that you want to run on a software solution.

    If you want to be a successful software developer, then it is essential that you not only start with the basics but continue to upgrade your programming skills to hold a firm grip over them. Knowing programming skills will help you write code efficiently for your software.

    With programming languages, you are able to communicate with computers. Even if you go for pursuing a computer science degree, without having programming skills, you won’t be able to build software. So, you will need to start with the basics of programming languages.

    However, you need to choose the programming languages based on your career requirements. For example, if you want to make your career in machine learning, then start learning C++, JAVA, and Python. Do you have an idea for developing web-based software? Do you want to create software without getting into the nitty-gritty of technical things? We have a team of experienced software developers to help you succeed.

    Want to Hire Software Developers for Your Project?

    Let’s discuss your requirements. We have a team of experienced and skillful software developers to help you with successful project development.

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  2. Learn Fundamentals to Design UI/UX in Software

    Software development is divided into 2 parts that include:

    • UI/UX Design
    • Back-end development

    In this section, you will learn about the user interface that is responsible for developing the graphical user interface of software that a user can see and interact with.

    Not only the visual components but also involves designing and managing the interactive functions of the software, such as navigation, buttons, or any other feature which impacts the functionality of the software.

    To help you with complete details of learning front-end, here is the roadmap of design the UI/UX of your software.

    Note : To view the below graph properly, use the Ctrl key and “+” for Windows and CMD key and “+” for macOS.

    Desktop Applications

    Electron

    Web Assembly

    Keep Learning

    Web Assembly or WASM is the binary instructions generated from
    higher level languages such as Go, C, C++ or Rust. It is faster than
    JavaScript and WASM 1.0 has already shipped in the major browsers.
    take quite some time to go mainstream though.
    W3C accepted it as an official standard at the end of 2019. It will still

    Tauri

    Linters and Formatters

    Prettier

    ESLint

    Gridsome

    yarn

    HTML

    Front-end

    Learn the basics

    Writing Semantic HTML

    Forms and Validations

    Conventions and Best Practices

    CSS

    Floats
    Positioning
    Display
    Box Model
    CSS Grid
    Flex Box

    Learn the basics

    Making Layouts

    Find the detailed version of this roadmap
    along with resources and other roadmaps

    Responsive design and Media Queries

    JavaScript

    Syntax and Basic Constructs

    Learn DOM Manipulation

    Hoisting, Event Bubbling, Scope,
    Prototype, Shadow DOM, strict
    Understand the concepts

    Learn Fetch API / Ajax (XHR)

    ES6+ and modular JavaScript

    roadmap.sh
    http
    :
    /
    /

    Internet

    How does the internet work?

    What is HTTP?

    Browsers and how they work?

    DNS and how it works?

    What is Domain Name?

    What is hosting?

    Accessibility

    SEO Basics

    Basic Usage of Git

    GitHub

    Repo hosting services
    Create account and Learn to use GitHub

    Version Control Systems
    What are they and why you should use one

    Package Managers

    npm

    Bitbucket

    GitLab

    Web Security Knowledge

    Personal Recommendation / Opinion
    I wouldn’t recommend

    Order in roadmap not strict (Learn anytime)

    Alternative Option – Pick this or purple

    CORS

    HTTPS

    Content Security Policy

    OWASP Security Risks

    Get at least a basic knowledge of all of these

    CSS Preprocessors

    CSS Architecture

    BEM

    Build Tools

    Task Runners

    npm scripts

    Webpack

    Webpack

    Rollup

    Rollup

    Parcel

    Parcel

    Module Bundlers

    Pick a Framework

    React

    Angular

    Vue.js

    Modern CSS

    Styled Components

    CSS Modules

    Emotion

    Apollo

    Static Site Generators

    GatsbyJS

    Next.js

    Nuxt.js

    Vuepress

    Jekyll

    CSS Frameworks

    CSS first frameworks
    that don’t come with
    JS framework
    components by default.

    Bootstrap

    Bulma

    JS based and better to use with your
    framework based JavaScript apps.

    Tailwind

    Material UI

    Mantine

    You can fill all your testing
    needs with just these.

    react-testing-library

    Enzyme

    Jest

    Cypress

    Testing your Apps

    and
    Functional
    tests and learn how to write

    them with the tools listed on the right.

    Learn the difference between
    Unit
    ,
    Integration
    ,

    Type Checkers

    TypeScript

    Progressive Web Apps

    Service Workers

    Storage

    Location

    Notifications

    Device Orientation

    Payments

    Credentials

    Web Sockets
    Learn different Web
    APIs used in PWAs

    PRPL Pattern

    RAIL Model

    Performance Metrics

    Using Lighthouse

    Using DevTools
    Calculating, Measuring
    and improving performance

    Server Side Rendering (SSR)

    React

    Next.js

    Angular

    Universal

    Vue.js

    Nuxt.js

    Mobile Applications

    React Native

    NativeScript

    Flutter

    Hugo

    Ionic

    GraphQL

    Relay Modern

    Web Components

    HTML Templates

    Custom Elements

    Shadow DOM

    PostCSS

    Sass

    Styled JSX

    Webpack

    esbuild

    Parcel

    Vite

    Radix UI

    Eleventy

    pnpm

    Svelte

    Solid JS

    Chakra UI

    DaisyUI

    Playwright

    Remix

    Remix

    Image Source: Roadmap.sh

    What are the Skills You Need to Design the UI/UX?

    To successfully design the UI/UX of software, you need to hold a firm grasp of the following skills.

    • Java Swing : Learn about how to create a user interface in desktop and internet-based applications.
    • SwiftUI : Learn about SwiftUI to create great applications and user interfaces for macOS apps.
    • HTML : You need to start with HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) as it has good browser compatibility and integration with other programming languages
    • CSS and Javascript : Go ahead with learning new scripting languages like CSS and JavaScript
    • Frameworks: Learn React or Angular, CSS processors, and other development tools will add an advantage to it

    Best Resources to Learn Front-end Development

    Following are the courses to master front-end development.

    No.Platform NameName of the CourseTimeRatings Out of 5
    1.UdemyJava Swing (GUI) Programming: From Beginner to Expert14 hours4.5
    2.UdemySwiftUI Masterclass 2023 – iOS App Development & Swift30.5 hours4.5
    3.CourseraProgramming Foundations with JavaScript, HTML and CSS33 hours4.6
    4.EducativeBecome a Front-End Developer42 hours4.4
    5.SimplilearnIntroduction to Front-End Development12 hours4.5

    Next, you need to learn about programming languages.

  3. Learn Programming Languages for Developing Software

    A back-end developer is responsible for the development of server-side logic, along with writing code for the databases, servers, and software. It is also known as client-side programming. It works behind the scenes that a user doesn’t see but that powers every function.

    To build software, the back-end developer performs database migrations and API integrations and sets up the server-side technologies.

    Here is the complete roadmap for learning the back end.

    Note : To view the below graph properly, use the Ctrl key and “+” for Windows and CMD key and “+” for macOS.

    Keep Learning

    Building with Observability in mind
    Metrics logging and other observable items
    that could help you in debugging and solving
    the issues when things go wrong

    Architectural Patterns

    Monolithic Apps

    Microservices

    CQRS and Event Sourcing

    Search Engines

    Elasticsearch

    Solr

    SOA

    Neo4j

    RabbitMQ

    Kafka

    Message Brokers

    Containerization vs Virtualization

    Web Servers

    Nginx

    Apache

    Caddy

    MS IIS

    Docker

    LXC

    GraphQL

    Apollo

    Relay Modern

    Graph Databases

    WebSockets

    OAuth

    Basic Authentication

    Token Authentication

    JWT

    OpenID

    SAML

    Caching

    Redis

    Memcached

    Server Side

    Client Side

    CDN

    Relational Databases

    PostgreSQL

    MySQL

    MariaDB

    MS SQL

    Oracle

    NoSQL Databases

    Document

    MongoDB
    , CouchDB

    Realtime

    Firebase
    , RethinkDB

    ACID

    More about Databases

    Transactions

    N+1 Problem

    Sharding Strategies

    Database Normalization

    Data Replication

    Indexes and how they work

    Learn about APIs

    REST
    Read Roy Fielding’s Paper

    JSON APIs

    SOAP

    HATEOAS

    Open API Spec and Swagger

    CAP Theorem

    Authentication

    Web Security Knowledge

    CORS

    HTTPS

    Content Security Policy

    OWASP Security Risks

    MD5 and why not to use it

    SHA Family

    scrypt

    bcrypt

    Hashing Algorithms

    Cookie Based

    SSL/TLS

    Testing

    Integration Testing

    Unit Testing

    Functional Testing

    Backend
    Find the detailed version of this roadmap
    along with resources and other roadmaps

    roadmap.sh
    http
    :
    /
    /

    Personal Recommendation / Opinion
    I wouldn’t recommend

    Order in roadmap not strict (Learn anytime)

    Alternative Option – Pick this or purple

    Go

    Java

    Rust

    C#

    Learn a Language
    Make sure to learn its quirks. Core details about its
    runtime e.g. concurrency, memory model etc.

    PHP

    JavaScript

    Python

    Ruby

    Internet

    How does the internet work?

    What is HTTP?

    Browsers and how they work?

    DNS and how it works?

    What is Domain Name?

    What is hosting?

    Basic Frontend Knowledge

    HTML

    CSS

    JavaScript

    Memory Management

    Interprocess Communication

    I/O Management

    POSIX Basics
    stdin, stdout, stderr, pipes

    Basic Networking Concepts

    OS and General Knowledge

    Terminal Usage

    Basic Terminal Commands
    grep, awk, sed, lsof, curl, wget
    tail, head, less, find, ssh, kill

    Process Management

    Threads and Concurrency

    How OSs work in General

    Basic Usage of Git

    GitHub

    Repo hosting services
    Create account and Learn to use GitHub

    Version Control Systems
    What are they and why you should use one

    Bitbucket

    GitLab

    ORMs

    CI / CD

    Design and Development Principles

    SOLID

    KISS

    YAGNI

    DRY

    GOF Design Patterns

    Domain Driven Design

    Test Driven Development

    Serverless

    Building for Scale
    General topics that you should learn
    and care about for the sustainability
    of the product.

    Mitigation Strategies

    Understand the Diff.

    Monitoring
    Throttling
    Backpressure
    Loadshifting
    Graceful
    Telemetry
    Instrumentation
    Circuit Breaker

    Migration Strategies

    Horizontal vs Vertical Scaling

    Degradation

    gRPC

    Column DBs

    Cassandra

    Time series

    InfluxDB
    , TimescaleDB

    Image Source: Roadmap.sh

    Which Skills are Required to Develop Backend of Software?

    To make your career as a back-end developer, you need to have the following skills.

    • Understanding of back-end development, which includes configuration, administration, and management of databases and servers
    • Learn programming languages like PHP, C#, and Java
    • Get to know the database technologies, such as MySQL and SQL
    • Best practices of security and authentication
    • Experience writing RESTful APIs

    Best Online Resources to Learn Backend Software Development

    Learn from the below courses to master backend development.

    No.Platform NameDescriptionTimeRatings Out of 5
    1.CodecademyBack-End Engineer – learn interactively4 – 8 monthsNA
    2.UdemyComplete Backend Development 2023 Bundle – Python Roadmap15.5 hours4.6
    3.CourseraMeta Back-End Developer Professional Certificate8 months4.7

    Once you develop the proper understanding of the backend, let’s learn about the database.

  4. Learn Database

    Basically, a database helps you store all the essential files related to the software solution. Therefore, having knowledge of databases is needed to build your career in software development.

    The information you will store will surely be sensitive. Therefore, ensure you are focused enough while allowing or manipulating the information in the database. Choose the database based on your project requirements, experience, and ease of usage.

    Which are the Skills Required to Learn Database?

    To master databases for software development, you need to learn the following skills.

    • Get training on the technologies and programming languages, such as SQL programming language
    • Data structure & algorithm for database creation
    • Basic understanding of data science

    Best Online Resources to Learn About Database

    Avail of these online courses to hold a strong grip over your database skills.

    No.Platform NameName of the CourseTimeRatings Out of 5
    1.LinkedInDatabase Foundations: Database Management2 hours4.8
    2.Google Digital GarageDatabase Management Essentials29 hours4.6
    3.UdemyDatabase Management System1 hour4.5

    Once you are clear with all three core components of software development, next you should opt for online bootcamps and courses.

  5. Purse Online Courses and BootCamps

    Though over 65% of developers hold a computer science degree, it is not always essential to find a job in software development. Either you can choose to learn through free or paid online courses or a coding Bootcamp. We have already mentioned the online courses in the above steps, so now let’s discuss more coding bootcamps.

    Attending bootcamps will simply give you a chance to gain job-ready programming skills. It is specially designed for those students who are not able to be a part of a four-year degree program. It lasts for just 6 months and is cheaper than the degree programs covering computer science theory.

    What You Need to Learn

    To make your software development career without a CS degree, you need to learn through bootcamps and online courses. You can focus on the following points.

    • Start with the basics of the software development process and architecture
    • Understand all that is required on how to build a software solution
    • Join bootcamps and pursue online courses based on your career choice options

    Where You Should Learn

    The following are some of the top bootcamps to learn software development.

    1. Flatiron School
    2. Fullstack Academy
    3. Hack Reactor
    4. Lambda School

    Getting a proper understanding of coding to develop software. Then you need to find your specialization whether you want to move into web-based or desktop software development.

  6. Find Your Specialization in Software Development

    Software development is like a deep sea. Covering everything beginning itself would be challenging for you. Hence, you would need to focus on a specific niche, such as web development or mobile app development, or either you just want to be a front-end developer or a back-end developer.

    Based on your choices, you will further need to go ahead to learn the software tools and technologies. Therefore, decide on your specialization at the beginning. In case you want to learn more skills later or want to change your specialization because of a lack of interest, you can do it anytime. Next, you need to build a software project to excel in your chosen field and practice real-time development.

  7. Start Developing Your Own Software Project

    Just as developing a project is important for your portfolio, consistency is also essential to identify your strengths and weaknesses. And when you find that you are weak in some of the areas, you can focus more with your consistent practice and overcome it within no time.

    So, devote your time to programming languages and try your hand at development. Then, slowly and steadily, you move on to developing more complex software projects to build a strong portfolio.

  8. Build Your Portfolio

    As you begin practicing, compile all your projects into a portfolio. Try to add your best work because the portfolio makes the first impression of your work and increases your chances of impressing the interviewer. Here are the following things a portfolio must have.

    • Provide a brief introduction about you, your interests, and your capabilities
    • Include your portfolio and work experience (don’t include simple projects)
    • Highlight your technical skills
    • Link to your resume, include your LinkedIn and GitHub or GitLab profiles
    • Accolades or awards, if received any
    • Mention your contact details

    Follow these best practices for your software development as it helps enhance the performance of software and face fewer issues later on. After having a strong grip on software development, apply for internships.

  9. Apply for Internships

    Before you apply for internships, you must create your technical resume.

    Here are the things that you need to consider before you go to create your resume.

    • Customize your resume that matches the skillset aligned with the specific job requirements
    • Include your technical skills and level of proficiency
    • Don’t try to fabricate your qualifications and experience in your resume
    • Stick to a clean format when it comes to designing a resume
    • Don’t add too much personal information and make any typing errors

    So once you are ready with your portfolio and resume, start to apply for internships. Find the company that provides customized software development solutions and which fits your qualifications and skill sets.

    If you are nervous about appearing in the interviews, then it would be best if you could go through some of the most asked interview questions and check the company’s profile to get a clear insight.

  10. Apply for Full-time Software Developers Jobs

    Only your consistent practice, hard work, dedication, and positive attitude will help you convert your internship into a full-time job. After completing your internships, it is time for you to apply for a full-time job.

    There are various job search portals that you can leverage to apply for software development jobs, such as LinkedIn, Glassdoor, and Indeed. Or you can also find clients directly through the portals like Fiverr, Upwork, and Clutch and work as a freelance software developer.

    Here are some tips for surviving a cut-throat competition in an organization after getting a job.

    • Be enthusiastic and passionate about learning and helping your co-workers
    • Know your colleagues and team to learn from them and expand your knowledge
    • Do hard work because this will help employers to notice your endeavours
    • Be professional and adhere to all the policies

    These are the core steps that you need to follow for becoming a dedicate software developer. Now, you might want to know about the time duration to become a software developer.

How Much Time Does It Take to Become a Software Developer?

The time to become a software developer ranges from 6 months to 4 years.

The time duration depends on your technical experience, background, and the path you choose. Either it could be taking professional training from any institute or pursuing a bachelor’s degree, and many go on to earn a master’s degree in Computer Science.

How Much Does a Software Developer Make?

According to a report by Payscale, the average yearly salary of a software developer is $68,908 in Canada. This data is prepared based on the 5,704 salary profiles. And, the average yearly salary of a software developer in the USA is $74,273/year.

Have a look at the following image to check the average salary of seasoned software engineers.

Average-Software-Developer-Salary-in-Canada-1

Image Source: Payscale

The following table illustrates the average pay salary based on the experience level of software developers. Have a look.

Payscale

Image Source: Payscale

Are you looking to develop web-based software? Do you hire developers instead of getting into technical aspects? You can get in touch with us.

Looking for Experienced Developers to Build Your Software App?

Let’s discuss your requirements. Consult with our technical team of experienced software developers to achieve success in your project development.

Want to know other related questions on software engineering? Check the following section.

FAQ About Software Developers

  1. How hard is it to become a software developer?

    Becoming a software developer is not as hard as you might think. But on the other hand, it is not even that easy. You need to spend some time learning to program from scratch and do it regularly. And when you do it, getting your entry-level job is possible without even having a computer science degree. All required is time, hard work, and dedication.

  2. What are the must-have skills for a software developer?

    Here are the following technical skills that a software engineer must have.

    • Basic knowledge of programming languages and software frameworks
    • Should have an understanding of databases and IDEs (Integrated Development Environment)
    • Data structures and algorithms
    • Knowledge of version control systems and source control
    • Debugging and testing knowledge

Get Started With Your Dream Job as a Software Developer

Following all the steps mentioned in this blog will help you become a software engineer and lend you a dream job in a multinational company. Along with this, all you will need is your consistent hard work, dedication, and efforts.

As we know that the average salary of software developers is pretty high, a software engineer role will surely turn out to be a rewarding career option for you. In case you want to consult your idea or discuss a project, get in touch with us through the ‘Contact Us’ page.

author
Founder and CEO of Space-O Technologies (Canada)
May, 12 2025

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