"Instead of 'programmers' (people that specialize in writing code), what you need are 'developers' (people who will contribute in multiple ways to make the product successful)."
What's the difference between a "developer" and a "programmer"?
11–20 of 22 posts
Re: What's the difference between a "developer" and a "programmer"?
#12The word Hackers has been basterdized over the years and it's mundane usage makes it an elusive term. What do you call the traditional programmers that broke through systems?
Re: What's the difference between a "developer" and a "programmer"?
#13I don't think there is a hard and fast rule, but here is what appears to be many people's (i.e. not everyone's) interpretation:
- Programmer: Primarily just writes code to accomplish the tasks that he is given.
- Developer: Understands and writes code too, but is also involved in slightly higher-level considerations such as overall architecture and visual presentation of a large app, also probably has a say about software processes, an impact on testing procedures etc.
- Software Engineer: Doesn't write that much code but organises the framework in which it will be written: i.e. gathers requirements, manages the testing process, makes sure the architectures will support long term development and maintenance issues, forward looking in terms of functionality, languages, technologies, and competition, as well as making sure everyone else has what they need and things are on shedule.
- Peter
Re: What's the difference between a "developer" and a "programmer"?
#14The word Hackers has been basterdized over the years and it's mundane usage makes it an elusive term. What do you call the traditional programmers that broke through systems?
Wanted?
Re: What's the difference between a "developer" and a "programmer"?
#15I don't think there is a hard and fast rule, but here is what appears to be many people's (i.e. not everyone's) interpretation: - Programmer: Primarily just writes code to accomplish the tasks that he is given. - Developer: Understands and writes code too, but is also involved in slightly higher-level considerations such as overall architecture and visual presentation of a large app, also probably has a say about sof…
But it gets oh so complicated when you introduce the modifiers "rock star" and "guru".
For example, who's more 1337: The guru programmer, or the rock star developer?
We live in a complicated world.
:)
Re: What's the difference between a "developer" and a "programmer"?
#16The word Hackers has been basterdized over the years and it's mundane usage makes it an elusive term. What do you call the traditional programmers that broke through systems?
I've hear people try to refer to them as "Crackers" but that term just makes me hungry
Re: What's the difference between a "developer" and a "programmer"?
#17"Instead of 'programmers' (people that specialize in writing code), what you need are 'developers' (people who will contribute in multiple ways to make the product successful)." http://www.ericsink.com/No_Programmers.html
Instead of weasel words what you need is a description that covers how you get done what it is you do. In fact its my experience that people who identify as programmers, hackers or coders are much more down to earth about solving problems and doing useful stuff. What's after developers? Software construction facilitators? Fancy names just seem to miss the point.
Re: What's the difference between a "developer" and a "programmer"?
#18Yay, let's all waste time arguing about useless semantic differences.
Go build something.
Re: What's the difference between a "developer" and a "programmer"?
#19Hacker, programmer, developer, coder, and engineer are terms used by different groups to denote the same people. So the difference is mainly what they say about the speaker.
pg, that's intriguing. What do these words say about the speakers?
Re: What's the difference between a "developer" and a "programmer"?
#20Hacker, programmer, developer, coder, and engineer are terms used by different groups to denote the same people. So the difference is mainly what they say about the speaker.
"Hacker" is somewhat special, though. I tend to use "programmer", "developer", and "coder" almost[1] interchangably, and I don't mind using them to describe someone whose only language is COBOL. "Hacker" confers greater respect, and I would only use it to describe a small subset of the people whom I would describe as coders.
[1] They describe the same group of people, but grammatically I use them slightly differently. Programmer is in association with a language, and developer in association with a project. Hence: Joe is a coder; Joe is a C++ programmer; Joe is a KDE developer.