CAREER FIELD
Developer career paths
Developers build the software the world runs on, from websites to phone apps to games. But "developer" isn't one job. Pick the kind of thing you want to build, and follow the roles and skills that get you there.
Choose a type of developer
Each type builds something different and starts with different tools. Pick a role to see its full path, from where you are to job-ready.
Web Developer
Build for the browser and the servers behind it. The broadest job market of any path, and the gentlest way in, which is why most people start here.
Game DeveloperIn progress
Build the worlds other people play in, from mobile puzzles to console titles. A smaller job market than web and harder to break into.
- Gameplay Programmer
- Engine Programmer
- Technical Artist
Did you know?
You don't need a degree to start
Most developers are largely self-taught. In Stack Overflow's 2025 survey, online resources, documentation, and videos topped the list of how people learned to code, while university at 16.6% and coding bootcamps at 5.2% sat near the bottom.
Build while you learn, don't just watch
Watching tutorials feels productive, but it fades fast. The stuff that sticks is what you build yourself. Follow along, then close the video and make something slightly different. The struggle is the part that teaches you.
15% more dev jobs by 2034 (US)
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics projects software developer jobs will grow 15% from 2024 to 2034, much faster than average, with about 129,200 openings a year.
Learn Git early, everyone uses it
Whatever kind of developer you become, you'll use version control on almost any real project. Git is how teams work on the same code without clashing, and GitHub doubles as your public portfolio.
Remote work is realistic here
Developers work from home more than most fields. Stack Overflow's 2025 survey found 32.4% fully remote and only 17.9% fully in-person, with the rest hybrid, and in the US, 45% work remote, the highest of any country surveyed.
AI is part of the job now
Most developers now work alongside AI tools, but plenty of the output can't be trusted. The skill that matters isn't just prompting well, it's knowing when the answer is wrong.