How do I make the most out of my Software Internship?

My honest advice is to simply be present, enthusiastic and engaged :)!

Be curious, ask questions, have lunches with supervisors and other interns. Work hard and don't be afraid to mess things up, internships are designed for establishing connections with future recruits and to give you experience.

Depending on where you're based I assume internship/work culture differ. Here in Sweden where I'm from almost everyone goes on vacation during the summer which can create a more relaxed environment. I've used that opportunity to spend time on learning new things, mostly related to the work, but as well on programming and CS in general. The paygrade here isn't comparable to US internships from what I've been able to deduce but this also kind of reflects what the internship means to the intern and to the company. This said, take the opportunity to hone your skills and put effort into your craft.

One of my favorite experiences from past internships have been simply to socialize with colleagues. Both in terms of tech but as well if they have any professional advice to pass on. Another fascinating aspect can be to discuss the company more informal, getting to know if it's a good place to consider for the future. This can range from office politics, company culture or how the teams are managed and organized from a higher level.

The most important thing is to be enthusiastic and since you're here asking for advice how to maximize it I think you've already got the right approach!

Don't spend all your time heads down working. Programming is only half the job of being a developer. You have to communicate with your team and other teams. You have design reviews and code reviews. You have to attend meetings. You also need to create and maintain working social relationships with your coworkers so that you have the network of resources when you need it. Ask lots of questions and be eager to learn. Don't be surprised if the company does things in less than ideal ways, there may or may not be good reasons.

Also, make friends, eat lunch with your team, have fun at intern events if they have them.

My main point is don't spend your time heads down trying to finish your project. You'll be missing on so much if you do.

The best thing you can do is to make friends with as many people as you can and make sure you don't lose contact. As you grow your career you'll be happy you know them.

Ask good questions

Take good notes

“Don’t confuse confidence with competence”

Work hard

Never stop learning

Reproduced from here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28422944 with some editing.

Recycling some replies. More context on https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26182988

- https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19924100 (understanding codebases, etc.)

- https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26591067 (testing pipelines, scaffolding, issue templates)

- https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22873103 (making the most out of meetings, leveraging your presence)

- https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22827841 (product development)

- https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20356222 (giving a damn)

- https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25008223 (If I disappear, what will happen)

- https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24972611 (about consulting and clients, but you can abstract that as "stakeholders", and understanding the problem your "client", who can be your manager, has.)

- https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24209518 (on taking notes. When you're told something, or receive a remark, make sure to make a note and learn from it whether it's a mistake, or a colleague showing you something useful, or a task you must accomplish.. don't be told things twice or worse. Be on the ball and reliable).

- https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24503365 (product, architecture, and impact on the team)

- https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22860716 (onboarding new hires to a codebase, what if it were you, improve code)

- https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22710623 (being efficient learning from video, hacks. Subsequent reply: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22723586)

- https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21598632 (communication with the team, and subsequent reply: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21614372)

- https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21427886 (template for taking minutes of meetings to dispatch to the team. Notes are in GitHub/GitLab so the team can access them, especially if they haven't attended).

- https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24177646 (communication, alignment)

- https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21808439 (useful things for the team and product that add leverage)

- https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20323660 (more meeting notes. Reply to a person who had trouble talking in corporate meetings)

- https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22715971 (management involvement as a spectrum)

- https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25922120 (researching topics)

- https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26147502 (keeping up with a firehose of information)

- https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26123017 (fractal communication: communication that can penetrate several layers of management and be relevant to people with different profiles and skillsets)

- https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26179539 (remote work, use existing tooling and build our own. Jitsi videos, record everything, give access to everyone so they can reference them and go back to them, meetings once a week or two weeks to align)

Write better. Always.