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Engineering
Software engineer
Designs, writes, tests and maintains software, from a single feature to whole systems.
More specific roles under it: Frontend engineer, Backend engineer, Full stack engineer, Mobile engineer, Machine learning engineer, Data engineer, Solutions architect, Game developer
Workflows for this work
The job in 5 areas. Each part is a workflow: open it for its steps and the tools that do each one. Built from occupational data and the field's own body of knowledge; sources at the end.
Software engineer564 skill packs · 75 MCP servers · 31 pluginsEach part is a workflow. The number beside it is how many tools help with it
1Understand the problem
Work out what to build, and its limits, before writing code.
2Build and change code
Write new code, fix what is broken and keep old code easy to change.
3Check quality
Test your own work and review the work of others.
4Ship and run
Get changes into production safely and keep them working.
5Work with the team
Keep others informed and leave a written trail they can use.
Sources for this tree, 8
- Body of knowledgeDORA capability catalogDORA (Google Cloud)
- PractitionerContinuous Integration (revised 18 January 2024)Martin Fowler, martinfowler.com
- PractitionerThe Practical Test PyramidHam Vocke, martinfowler.com
- PractitionerHow to do a code review (Google Engineering Practices)Google
- PractitionerWhat to look for in a code review (Google Engineering Practices)Google
- Occupational dataSoftware Developers (15-1252.00)O*NET OnLine, U.S. Department of Labor
- Body of knowledgeSite Reliability Engineering (book), table of contentsGoogle
- Body of knowledgeSoftware Engineering Body of Knowledge (SWEBOK), Guide V4.0IEEE Computer Society
O*NET occupations consulted: 15-1252.00. Read on 2026-10-04.
Everything suggested for this role
Each pick says which of the role's tools or work it matched. Auto-listed means automated checks only.
Skill packs1,127
MCP servers242
Plugins and agents35
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