College to Corporates

This blog is written keeping in mind the average student from average engineering college in India, primarily from my personal experience.Most often the amount of code that a graduation student(fitting the previous sentences) in India sees compared to the industry is so less that here are some tips he/she must concentrate on:

1. Large code bases: Real time software is never written in a single file unlike college assignments. It is important to understand how large code bases are organised, the folder structure etc... Compiling and building code from multiple files is not a trivial task either. One must know building tools accordingly, e.g. make, ant.
2. Version control systems: Knowing to use a version control system is an important factor in the industry. This seems so trivial to the seasoned programmer. But it does help, if  one has an idea of these from college itself.
3. Documentation: Never underestimate the importance of documentation. The mode, efficiency etc... can itself be a serious topic to learn.
4. Communication: The importance of good communication skills is many times under estimated; especially by many who think technical guys need not be good at English or communication. Communication and Soft skills are somethings which we should never stop learning about.
5. Team work: Freshers should concentrate on how to work in team in my humble opinion.
6. Jargon: I hear lot of jargon which I don't understand at all. Two years ago when I began my career, I used to get perturbed by the fact that I don't understand head or tail of it. Don't bother if you don't understand. It's ok but make sure you use a term only after you understand it.