Slashdot Mirror
Ask Slashdot: Developer Or Software Engineer? Can It Influence Your Work?
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?"
A programmer (developer?) writes code that hopefully works. A software engineer writes code that is designed to work.
I like to just say programmer.
Programmer.
Programmer.
Programmer.
Do you speak it?
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
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.
I think I agree with you, but what if you have a degree in computer science? Is your title "Developer with a degree in Computer Science?" I don't think I could really call myself a computer scientist with a straight face, yet that is my degree.
http://www.rootstrikers.org/
What if you just ramble on about .Net and quibble over which IDE is better, all the while saying words like "Scrum" and "Agile"?
Sure you'll get a job, but you won't ever actually produce anything.
I want to delete my account but Slashdot doesn't allow it.
Then again... the work I do is what universities currently consider "IT Systems Engineering". My work integrates Windows, Linux, FreeBSD, OS X, NetApp, VMware and Citrix platforms as well as covering security, development, data archiving, and a host of other tasks. My skills extend beyond those areas, but those are the ones I use in my day job.
My degree, however, is physics.
Well, that's typical of systems engineers/whatever-the-heck-you-want-to-call-us for those of us who remember 300 baud, FidoNet and (later) Bitnet email accounts. Ever typed an assembler into an Apple //c by hand from a magazine? No? GET OFF MY LAWN!
When I started in IT there was NO SUCH THING as a degree in IT Systems Engineering. Does that mean I'm not an IT Systems Engineer? We don't have an official job title of "systems engineer". My job title is "Advanced Systems Specialist" at my workplace. There's not an official "Systems Engineer" title at all. Does that mean this HUGE university infrastructure was built without any engineers/engineering? Really?
My point: I find there are plenty of people that have titles they are "allowed" to use but to which they fall far, far short. I also know brilliant people that run circles around those folks who have no "official" title (some have no degree at all). My feeling: use whatever title *actually* describes what you do and are capable of doing (and I'm sorry if the law prevents you from doing so where you live). Using a lesser title is selling yourself short. Using a greater title is setting yourself up for failure, firing, and ridicule.
Be honest and accurate about your capabilities. No more. No less.
Life is short: void the warranty.
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".