Comments on: Programmer or Developer?

By: Hacker or Developer?

Hacker or Developer? — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 12:40:53 +0000

[...] essentially the same distinction I tried to make a while ago, although I used the term Programmer instead of Hacker. Maybe if I’d used the [...]

By: Hans-Eric

Hans-Eric — Fri, 23 May 2008 09:42:31 +0000

I’m not sure what you mean with “cum” but the work order you outline suggests you are more of a developer than a programmer, although you could be somewhere close to the middle.

By: Milan Chheda

Milan Chheda — Fri, 23 May 2008 08:40:51 +0000

According to your post, I would be a Software Developer-cum-programer…
Well during my Academic career, I had done few projects with my team where I initally started with the research about the project.. followed by selection of the technology then I start with making of GUI(designing and coding).. and finally go for the back-end(coding and bug fixing).. So that means I am Developer-cum-Programmer..

By: www.hans-eric.com » Blog Archive » The Firepower of Teams

www.hans-eric.com » Blog Archive » The Firepower of Teams — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 13:53:16 +0000

[...] People, it seems, don’t like to be categorized, a fact I too discovered when trying to make a distinction between Developers and Programmers. They especially don’t like to hear that they’re mediocre, not special, or less worth, [...]

By: Cosmican

Cosmican — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 00:01:27 +0000

Well… Here is another term for you to define – ‘Software Engineer’

By: www.hans-eric.com » Blog Archive » The Extinction of Programmers

www.hans-eric.com » Blog Archive » The Extinction of Programmers — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 13:49:49 +0000

[...] would, using my definition, make us Developers rather than Programmers. There’ll be, as Alex pointed out, room for less [...]

By: www.hans-eric.com » Blog Archive » Tools of The Effective Developer: Customer View

Thu, 27 Sep 2007 11:11:20 +0000

[...] developer is not to write code, it’s to solve the customer’s problem. (Otherwise, using my definitions, he is a programmer and not a developer.) This calls for the habit of taking the customer’s [...]

By: Dave G

Dave G — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 20:47:28 +0000

I agree with what Phineus said. Everything in this article is just arbitrary and made up, and from my own experience, it doesn’t even ring true. IMO, a much better treatment of this subject can be found here:

http://software.ericsink.com/No_Programmers.html

By: Randy Aldrich

Randy Aldrich — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 14:21:58 +0000

I Myself am a Software Engineer. I don’t fit siloed in either of the two categories you described. I find myself most concerned with the User Interface, however I also find that a good design yields a good implementation.

I believe myself to be a good designer and pride myself on maintainability but still have the knowledge of “what the compiler does behind the scenes” which helps me during implementation. I find your statement “they are rarely found within the same individual” to be quite odd as I work with many people who have the strengths of both.

I believe what you described as a Software Developer most often also comes with the strengths of a Software Programmer, although it does not always go the other way around. I know many excellent programmers which lack the skills to develop a good user interface or a good overall system design.

In the end I think there are three levels not two different roles. I may get a lot of hate for that but I truly believe that’s how it is.

By: Hans-Eric

Hans-Eric — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 20:43:17 +0000

Phineus: Well, the point could be to enrich the language, and not to kill the nuances. For instance, the difference between chance and risk in the following sentence: There is a chance/risk of him not surviving the surgery…. Hm, is this what navel-gazing means? Maybe you have a point after all

Randy: I buy into your definition of a software engineer. And your other point as well

Mario: Simply because the GUI is the best way in which you can communicate the application with the users, but it’s true that the domain model should be clear from the gui/prototype, or from the test cases. But I agree with you that the business layer should be separate from the gui. That is just common sense.

bj: As I said, both types are needed, so they should be paid equally. I don’t think you meant semantical though, since that means kind of – well – significant meaning. But I see what you mean, and I also agree – a little Thanks for the comment.