Software Development

“The code I write is used by millions and millions of people around the world – and that makes me want to be a better engineer. Every design decision we make affects at least a subset of MATLAB users. It's just exhilarating and pushes me to do a better job every day.”

Day in the Life of a Software Engineer at MathWorks – An average day – It's not just code!

My workday is pretty awesome. I'm actually happy when I wake up knowing it's a workday. I get to head into the office, solve interesting problems, invent new things with my friends, and if I'm really lucky, I get to teach a class!

MORNING: We start with basics: email maintenance, internal news, new bug assignments...have all my tests passed? Jobs accepted? Rejected? Furrow brow. Figure out why.

LUNCHTIME: By mid-day I've had a standup, reviewed a peer's code, and given feedback on a design or two. I look where I left off with my deliverables for this iteration. Lunch is with friends. Then it's specifications or coding, maybe mixed with a visit from someone needing answers or perhaps swinging by to answer my own requests for help. If I need to really focus I close my door and go head-long at the task.

AFTERNOON: 2:00 Friday? Cookie time.

Finally before leaving I look at what's up for tomorrow, check any jobs I have running, and head home to my family. Perfect!

“The MATLAB Mobile project for Android and iOS is the coolest mobile project I’ve worked on. As a software engineer on the MATLAB Mobile team, Java and JavaScript are my daily languages.”

“I take great pride that the products I create are delivering MATLAB to the brilliant minds that make wonders with it. It's a constant reminder of the high quality required of my work. I'm always grateful for the meticulous design discussions, solution reviews, usability tests, and testing cycles at MathWorks that transform my ideas into bug-free, customer-friendly applications.”

“As a software process engineer on the Software Process Engineering team, I work partly on technical and partly on nontechnical projects. There is a perfect blend of both, which is what I always wanted. This team has given me an opportunity to build on my strengths and also to work on new challenges. What I like the most about Software Process Engineering is there are so many great colleagues who are visionary and dedicated, all working together to make MathWorks a better place. I can feel that positive energy and it helps me perform better.”

“Our company mission is to accelerate the pace of engineering and science. Working in Software Process Engineering, I get to directly support this mission, I get to directly support this mission by improving processes, defining standards, and providing skill development so our staff can build even greater products. I have a computer science background, and this job helps me stay technical while gaining additional skills like project management, process improvement, and leadership. There are a lot of really smart and friendly people that make this a great place to collaborate and contribute.”

“I enjoy developing the accurate, fast, and robust numerical library MATLAB uses. Every time MATLAB gives you a correctly computed answer, I smile. You can imagine I am a very happy person most of the time. Who doesn’t like it when math just works?”

“Being a software developer at MathWorks is a highly rewarding experience. Not only is there the satisfaction of contributing to a world-renowned product alongside some fantastically talented people, but there is also the gratification when we see some of the feats of engineering and science our customers achieve using our tools.”

“I most enjoyed working on the MATLAB Answers home page for the Community section of the MathWorks website. I loved working with the many different technologies and languages we used. The people on my team are wonderful – so incredibly helpful and great fun to be around. Every day brings something different, something interesting, and best of all: something to smile about.”

“Working in Software Process Engineering allows me to use my creativity and training experience to develop meaningful learning experiences for MathWorks staff, which is very rewarding. I appreciate having the freedom and encouragement here to take on a variety of projects and to develop myself in areas that interest me – for example, I recently expressed an interest in doing more design work and now I’m working on creating eLearning modules!”

“In Development University, there’s a lot of variety in the work we do. We all work with different groups in Development, but we also help each other out and work across the team as well. I love how invested we are in proliferating knowledge and improving processes – in particular, I feel supported in my objective of exploring and leveraging new learning formats!”