11–20 of 130 posts
I am a experienced programmer, too. No "software architect" or another label can convert the stupid into brilliant. In most cases is related to recognition, power, and pay, so may be that's the reason of accepting such labels as "normal" (I have no problem with others telling me X, Y or Z, although I find it non-sense as well).
I am going to change my title to janitorial engineer.
Although there is no mentioning of any references, I have a clue that it is a response to "Don't call yourself a programmer" ( http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3170766 )
But at the end of the day it's not strictly about semantics, I think it's also about how you understand you work. When I don't introduce myself as an entrepreneur, I always introduce myself as a software engineer. Not out of elitism or anything like that, but because I think it carries more the fact that I am here to solve problems, and that programming is just one possible mean to this end.
Although there is no mentioning of any references, I have a clue that it is a response to "Don't call yourself a programmer" ( http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3170766 )
I think that if jacquesm was living in Japan like patio11 (I also live in Japan), he wouldn't call himself a programmer either. Because a programmer in Japan is someone that takes a spec or a task, written by an engineer, and "translate" it into code. A programmer doesn't solve any problem, he implements another person solution, and that's it. But at the end of the day it's not strictly about semantics, I think it's…
The problem is, 'programming' as such is the end of a process. That process begins with talking to a customer about his or her idea/business problem, and asking questions and (basically) doing consulting to help the customer understand what his or her problem really is. Once that's clear, I write a proposal that outlines how I would address that problem, all in strictly high-level layman-understandable language - no mockups, no screenshots, no technical language, nothing. Then, once we agree on that, I contact a designer to help out with the design of the app, and to think about new and novels ways to make the interface as simple as possible. We show it to the customer, refine it, and get an agreement on all that stuff. And then, finally, three months since that first meeting, I can start with the programming.
So yes, I'm a programmer - but only if an academic is a writer, if an architect is someone who draws, and if a manager is someone who talks to people.
Although there is no mentioning of any references, I have a clue that it is a response to "Don't call yourself a programmer" ( http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3170766 )