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Ask Slashdot: Developer Or Software Engineer? Can It Influence Your Work?

Posted by Soulskill on from the it's-harder-to-chant-software-engineer dept.

ctrahey writes "Many of us disregard the impact of our titles on various aspects of our lives, both professional and otherwise. Perhaps it's appropriate to ask two questions about the difference between a couple titles familiar to the Slashdot community: Developer vs Software Engineer. What are the factors to consider in the appropriate use of the titles? And (more interesting to me), what influence might the use of these titles have on the written code? Have you observed a difference in attitudes, priorities, or outlooks in talent as a corollary to their titles?"

5 of 333 comments (clear)

  1. Programmer vs. Software Engineer by jayveekay · · Score: 5, Insightful

    A programmer (developer?) writes code that hopefully works. A software engineer writes code that is designed to work.

  2. What about programmer? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I like to just say programmer.

    Programmer.

    Programmer.

    Programmer.

  3. Are you a hacker? by betterunixthanunix · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Here is a rough guide for deciding what to call yourself:
    1. Do you have a set of well-defined methods for designing, documenting, and implementing the software you write? Then you might be a software engineer.
    2. Do you sit down and bang out code a few hours before the deadline, without adhering to a well-defined method of designing the system? If so, you might be a developer.

    Of course, many programmers are somewhere in the middle, usually leaning more towards "engineering" when the deadline is months away and "developing" when the deadline is days away.

    --
    Palm trees and 8
  4. IMO None. by eagee · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I was a "Senior Software Engineer" before I got a promotion, now I'm a "Lead Developer". Aside from providing guidance to other engineers I still do the same job. Personally, I wanted my new title to be "Mr. Manager" instead, but no one seemed to like that idea :(. Seriously, I've worked in states where it's illegal to give someone without an engineering degree the title "Engineer", but I've worked with engineers who didn't finish college and found them every bit as good (sometimes much better) than the ones who didn't.

  5. Re:Seinfeld by greg1104 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Kid, you obviously don't know anything about dating in 1967. During the Summer of Love, showers were strictly optional, and instead of going for a burger the invitation would include "we'll get some acid".