SkillSpan: A Tool for Bridging Industry-Ready Coding Excellence

Abstract

In the world of Software Engineering, there’s a persistent gap between academic learning and the industry demands. Therefore, software engineering students, educators and industry experts are facing this challenge often. This paper proposes a suitable solution to that problem by introducing a tool called SkillSpan. This tool empowers students with access to industry-standard coding practices and relevant courses with real-world applicability, and provides companies a direct path way to interact with prospective interns. The platform integrates a code compiler management system, incorporating the Monaco editor and Judge0 open-source code execution system, facilitating code assessment and real-time execution in diverse programming languages including up to 40 languages. Moreover, SkillSpan utilizes the OpenAI Application Programming Interface for real-time code generation, offering students instant code solutions. Survey results emphasize the significance of aligning education with industry coding standards, with 94.7% of respondents preferring internships that adhere to industry practices. SkillSpan represents a transformative bridge between academia and industry, fostering collaboration and innovation.