Hey folks, I'm currently working as a QA engineer with three years of experience in both automation and manual testing at a project-based company. I'm looking to switch gears in my career and dive into .NET development. I've already completed a basic course on Udemy and I'm halfway through another one, which is going well so far. However, when I check out actual projects, it all feels so overwhelming with numerous files and I struggle to understand how everything connects. This has led to some self-doubt as I think maybe this is too tough for me, or that it requires a level of smarts I'm not sure I have.
I'm also quite dependent on AI tools right now, which makes me worry about my coding capabilities without them. I'd really like to hear from any QA people who've made the jump to development. Could you share your experiences, encouragement, or advice? I'm all ears! Also, just a heads-up, my company is going to give me a .NET project soon and I'll get to assist in the development while still in QA, which should help ease the transition.
2 Answers
I’ve been down the same path, starting with small programming courses and learning how testing frameworks can interact with development work. It’s a gradual process, so keep your spirits up and don’t let frustration get the best of you!
Jumping straight from a basic course to a full production project is tough—totally normal to feel overwhelmed. Many people successfully make the QA-to-dev transition. A key tip: talk to developers at your company about what skills you should focus on. Knowing your company's codebase helps a lot since you already understand the testing side.
Thanks for the insight! I really appreciate it.