Day in the life
A Day in the Life of a Software Developer
What software developers actually do from the start of a shift to the end: the tasks, tools, schedule and realities of the job.
Join the team’s daily stand-up and share progress and blockers. From there, the day usually includes gather requirements and design software features, write clean, maintainable code, and write and run automated tests. Most work full-time with flexible hours. Some teams have on-call rotations for production issues.
Hour by hour: a typical shift
No two days are identical, but this timeline reflects a realistic day for a software developer working full time.
- Join the team’s daily stand-up and share progress and blockers.
- Pick up a ticket for a new checkout feature and plan the changes.
- Write code and unit tests for the new API endpoint.
- Review a teammate’s pull request and leave comments.
- Debug a production error using logs and monitoring tools.
- Pair with a designer on front-end details.
- Open a pull request and update the ticket.
Where software developers work
Developers work in offices or remotely, mostly at computers, collaborating through chat, video and code review tools.
Hours and schedule
Most work full-time with flexible hours. Some teams have on-call rotations for production issues.
Tasks you’ll do most often
- Gather requirements and design software features
- Write clean, maintainable code
- Write and run automated tests
- Debug and fix defects
- Review code and collaborate in version control
- Deploy and monitor applications
- Document systems and improve performance
Tools you’ll use every day
- Code editors such as VS Code or IntelliJ
- Git and GitHub or GitLab
- Cloud platforms such as AWS, Azure or Google Cloud
- Issue trackers such as Jira
- CI/CD pipelines
- Debuggers and monitoring tools
The best and hardest parts of the job
What people like
- High pay and strong demand
- Remote and flexible options
- Creative problem solving
- Many specialties to choose from
What’s hard
- Competitive entry-level market
- Constant learning required
- Long screen time
- On-call and deadline pressure at times
You’ll likely thrive if…
- I love solving puzzles
- I enjoy building things with code
- I can focus for long periods
- I like learning new tools
- I’m comfortable working on a team
- I want high pay and remote options
Not sure? Take the free Software Developer fit quiz or the Career Match Quiz.
Staying safe on the job
- Protect credentials and never commit secrets to code
- Follow secure coding practices
- Use ergonomic setups and take screen breaks
- Test changes before deploying to production