Senior Software Engineer Roadmap

By Rustam-Z 🚀

Can be used by Backend Developers, Data Engineers, Automation Engineers, and anyone who wants to advance in Python.

Senior Python Developer Skill Set

• Advanced Python topics
  • Object model, data structures (mutable and immutable, LEGB rule, shallow and deep copy, dict hashing, data type caching in Python)
  • Dataclasses, collections
  • Decorators
  • Iterators, generators
  • Context managers
  • Advanced topics in OOP (Method Resolution Order MRO, Inheritance diamond problem, dunder methods, ABC abstract class, super(), descriptors, property, method overriding and overloading, duck typing, monkey patching, mixin)
  • Concurrency: threading, asyncio, I/O bound
  • Asynchronous programming (coroutines, async & await)
  • Parallelism: multiprocessing, CPU bound
  • Memory management
  • Global Interpreter Lock (GIL)
  • Garbage collector (reference counting, three generation garbage collection mechanism)
  • Metaprogramming (runtime code execution)
• Python clean coding, and engineering excellence.
  • Check resources below ⬇️
• Development principles (SOLID, DRY, KISS)
  • SOLID
• Coding design patterns
• Testing
  • Mocking, patching, fixtures
  • PyTest, unittest for unit, integration testing
  • Selenium for UI end-to-end testing
  • Code coverage and static analysis tools
• Profiling and optimization with cProfile
• Package and environment management (Poetry, PyPi)
• Must know libraries: logging, argparse, pathlib, os, sys, requests, itertools, json, yaml, csv, regex

Python Resources

Advanced Python Resources

• Python OOP 8 tips
• realpython.com best practices
• Python object model
• medium, https://book.pythontips.com
• medium, https://medium.com/techtofreedom/python/home
• medium, https://pythontutorial.net
• medium, https://docs.python-guide.org
• advanced, https://thedigitalcatonline.com
• advanced, https://python-3-patterns-idioms-test.readthedocs.io
• advanced, https://www.fullstackpython.com
• advanced, https://testdriven.io/

Clean Coding

• GitHub: Python clean code
• PEP 8
• Google's Python style guide
• testdriven.io: Clean code in Python
• LinkedIn: Clean coding practices
• LinkedIn: Advanced Python

SOLID & Design Patterns

• My notes on SOLID
• My notes of design patterns
• Python design patterns
• YouTube: 8 Design Patterns EVERY Developer Should Know
• YouTube: 10 Design Patterns Explained in 10 Minutes

Parallel programming

• Concurrency and Async Programming, realpython.com
• LinkedIn: Python Parallel and Concurrent Programming Part 1
• LinkedIn: Python Parallel and Concurrent Programming Part 2

Python Testing

• Book “Python testing with PyTest”
• Book “Python testing with Selenium”
• Book “TDD in Python”
• Book “Python Unit Test Automation“
• Book "XUnit Test Patterns" book

Python Books

• "Python basics"
• "Python tricks"
• "Clean Python"
• “Practices of the Python Pro”
• “Python Workout”
• “Effective Python”
• "Fluent Python"
• "Learning Python”
• "Python Cookbook"
• "Advanced Guide to Python 3"
• "Mastering Object-Oriented Python"
• “The Python workshop”
• “Expert Python Programming”

Other GitHub Repositories

• senior
• path-to-senior-engineer-handbook
• awesome-interview-questions
• break-the-ice-with-python

YouTube Channels to Follow

• @mCodingWithJamesMurphy
• @ArjanCodes
• RU: Yandex Python Practicum
• Corey Scafer
• Watch conference recordings

Software Engineering Resources

Books

• "Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship"
• "Clean Architecture"
• "Code Craft: The Practice of Writing Excellent Code"
• "The Clean Coder: A Code of Conduct for Professional Programmers" (Robert C. Martin Series)
• "Beautiful Code: Leading Programmers Explain How They Think"
• "The Pragmatic Programmer: From Journeyman to Master"
• "Code Complete: A Practical Handbook of Software Construction"

Soft Skills Books

• "Soft Skills: The software developer's life manual"
• "On Managing Yourself"
• "How to answer the 64 toughest interview questions"
• "The Mythical Man-Month: Essays on Software Engineering"
• "Programming Interviews Exposed"
• "Elements of Programming Interviews: The Insiders' Guide 2nd Edition"
• "Programming Pearls 2nd Edition"

Engineering Blogs

• daily.dev
• YouTube: @yegor256
• bytebytego.com
• pragmaticengineer.com
• High Growth Engineer
• YouTube: The Engineering Room by Dave Farley
• Small Batches by Adam Hawkins
• GitHub: engineering-blogs

🚩 What's next?

• Dive into System Design topics: watch the "Systems Expert by AlgoExpert" course, read the "System Design interview" book.
• Dive into DevOps and Cloud Arch, pass AWS Solution Architect Certification.
• Dive into database topics (scalability, sharding, replication, NoSQL databases, CAP theorem).
• Learn best practices in the areas of your interest: backend, AI, automation.
• Constantly upgrade your coding and engineering excellence skills.