Why Software Engineering is the Best Job in 2012

In April, CareerCast.com placed software engineer at the top of its rankings of 200 jobs, noting that for software engineers the “pay is great, hiring demand for their skills is through the roof, and working conditions have never been better.” But what do software engineers do in 2012? From developing new tools for verifying software, to assisting product groups in coping with bugs and big data, to securing applications on mobile phones, there is a huge variety in software engineering jobs.

In this talk, we provide an overview of the tasks that software engineers at Microsoft Research tackle, and how we are driving the future of this field.

Speaker Details

Judith Bishop is director of computer science at Microsoft Research, where she works to create strong links between Microsoft’s research groups and universities worldwide. Her expertise is in programming languages and distributed systems, with a strong practical bias and an interest in compilers and design patterns. She initiated the Software Engineering Innovation Foundation (SEIF) and is currently working on a new way of running programs in browsers (especially F#) and on promoting programming on mobile phones with TouchDevelop. Judith has authored more than 95 publications, including 15 books on programming languages that are available in six languages. She serves frequently on international editorial, program, and award committees, and has received numerous awards and distinctions, including the IFIP Outstanding Service Award in 2009 and the IFIP Silver Core Award 2006 for service to the worldwide computer science community. She is a fellow of the British Computer Society, the Royal Society of South Africa, and many other prestigious bodies. Judith received her PhD from the University of Southampton.

Date:
Speakers:
Judith Bishop
Affiliation:
Microsoft Research