Automotive Software

Why did you choose the fast-track course?

I taught myself programming during corona. I watched various YouTube tutorials and little by little learned how to use Java. For example, I write mobile phone games and I have programmed an app for recipes. During this time I saw the in-house job advertisement and thought it would be great if I could develop this hobby by studying it and even use these skills at the company. In addition, a project had come to an end and I had to make a decision about what the next step in my career could be.

What fascinates you about software development?

A lot depends on it: our day-to-day life is now based on software in many areas and I enjoy figuring out the code and then seeing how everything works. It has now become a passionate hobby of mine – almost overnight! When my working day is done, I program in my free time.

Tell us about your time on the course.

We were well supported by the company, however the course was still challenging. Eight hours of lectures in one block or sitting down to study after a long day at work can be tough at times. I always tried to plan fixed times to learn in order to achieve a certain routine in my everyday life – this worked quite well. My previous knowledge also helped me because I already knew Java. During our studies we learned Python. This programming language is more accessible. It takes less time writing code to achieve the same thing. The corona pandemic meant that everything had to be held online at short notice, but the professors really tried to involve us closely in the online environment.

In what way do you benefit from the course in your day-to-day work?

I am responsible for the test automation of navigation devices. In the past, you had to test navigation systems manually. In other words, clicking through the menus by hand. Using Python, I program scripts that do this automatically. But the basic knowledge that my foundation course gave me is also helpful in everyday work: how computers work, the hexadecimal or binary system, for example. The course gave me the right tools for my job and it was the right decision for me.