Creating and releasing software is a complicated business, requiring many different people in different job roles. The titles of these people can be confusing, for example, both DevOps engineers and software engineers are involved in creating and releasing software, but many people are confused about the roles these different people play. So, while both DevOps engineers and software engineers are involved in creating and releasing software, they each have entirely different areas of focus. A software engineer is more focused on creating the software, e.g. writing code that meets the requirements of the software. Whereas a DevOps engineer is working on automating development and the process of releasing the software. In this article, we’ll explore the difference between a software engineer and a DevOps engineer.
What is a Software Engineer?
A software engineer’s primary role consists of designing, developing, maintaining, testing, and evaluating software/software products using the tenets of software engineering. They follow the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) process throughout the phases of development, testing, and maintenance. Software Engineers generally fall into two categories:
- Application Engineer: These kinds of engineers develop software applications that meet the user or client’s needs.
- System Engineer: A systems engineer works to ensure the proper growth of a business's computer systems.
Other skills required for a software engineer include knowledge of database structures and algorithms, excellent programming skills, the ability to debug large codebases, the ability to troubleshoot and problem solve software issues, strong reasoning skills, and strong analytical skills, just to name a few.
Software engineering job roles and responsibilities often include executing technical designs, enhancing and maintaining an existing code base, examining code changes, writing new code for applications, detecting problems with the software and operating procedures of the software, and managing the installation of software for all clients.
What is a DevOps Engineer?
DevOps engineers are IT people who are both part of development and operations. This means that a DevOps engineer writes code with the software developers as well as manages the code releases, and also oversees the deployment and operations side of things. To correctly integrate the running of software, they also work with the product operations team.
In order to be an effective DevOps engineer, they need to know how to program, and manage people. In addition, a DevOps engineer needs to know agile and DevOps principles, have good problem-solving skills, and have the ability to organize, to name a few.
The job roles and responsibilities of a DevOps engineer include accessing the technological automation tools, managing the cloud deployment, and people management. This allows them to manage a software development team while maintaining compliance and security procedures. In addition, they monitor operations and offer help as needed and they also work to improve the software development process.
What are the differences between a Software Engineer and a DevOps Engineer?
While there are many similarities between a software engineer and a DevOps engineer, such as they are both parts of IT, there are many differences. In short, a software engineer is concerned with the design and development of computer software, along with its maintenance, testing, and evaluation. A DevOps engineer has more of an overseer role and works with the software developers, along with the system operators and any other IT staff connected to the production, with the goal of releasing and deploying the finished software application. Important skills for a software engineer include programming, database knowledge, algorithms, and mathematics. Important skills for a DevOps engineer include good communication, driving change management and collaborative skills, along with DevOps tools and automation. DevOps engineers also need software development knowledge, software operations knowledge, coding, and scripting, and cloud experience.
While these roles are very different, they are both crucial to creating a successful and high-quality software product.
Look To Encora for Your Engineering Needs
Whether you need a DevOps engineer, a software engineer, a team of DevOps engineers, a team of software engineers, or a little bit of both, you’ve come to the right place. Encora has helped countless businesses with their DevOps engineering and software engineering needs, and they’re excited to help you too! Encora prides itself on helping its clients envision the growth that drives their industry and enable them with establishing a robust capabilities ecosystem to fuel rapid, scalable, and continuous innovation. They also support businesses to accelerate the development and deployment of new software product innovations through best-in-class agile practices. They work to ensure their client's success by deploying leading-edge technologies and tools to accelerate commercial success through rapid market adoption.
Reach out to Encora today and get started on your way to greater success!
