
What's the difference between a "developer" and a "programmer"? - pashbonk

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pg
Hacker, 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.

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mxh
Very true. "A friend of mine" was writing some ad copy for a job req. "his"
employer was trying to fill, and wanted to use the word "hacker" in the
headline. (E.g. "Looking for a great hacker", or somesuch.) The (oursourced,
non-technical) HR dept. would not permit the use of that word, as it sounded
too much like advertising for someone to break the law.

I've always believed that these terms told you a lot about the speaker, but I
was shocked to see such a clear, real-life case.

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byrneseyeview
Heh. I've had a similar problem. I do recruiting for investment banks, and
sometimes the job spec says 'developer' but the job description clearly calls
for a hacker. Financial HR departments are usually pretty forgiving when they
can plausibly deny responsibility, though.

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ralph
There's an anecdote about Ken Thompson having "coder" as his occupation in his
passport. Shame I can't find a link. Typical of a man who debunked persistent
objects with a quip about having them for years; they're called files.

Being an above average coder or programmer means understanding many things.
Grabbing the moniker developer instead seems more about worrying how others
perceive you.

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ks
I think they are mostly the same, but that "developer" means more than just
programming. By developing something you take an active part and can make
decisions about the software. If you're "just" a programmer, you just program
something that matches the specs. (think outsourcing)

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peterlaurens
I 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

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jamesbritt
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.

:)

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palish
"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>

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greendestiny
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.

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antirez
The term programmer makes me thinking "we need 100 programmers to meet our
deadline!"... stupid concepts like working_code=num_programmers x time and in
general that programmers are easily interchangeable.

Developer is much better and is able to evoke the idea that it's not just a
matter of writing code but there is a design process involved.

 _p.s. how can I write a verbatim asterisk? backslash quoting does not work_

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ralph
&#42; yields *

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antirez
Thanks, not particularly intuitive :)

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theoutlander
The 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?

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danw
I've hear people try to refer to them as "Crackers" but that term just makes
me hungry

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dshah
I prefer the term developers. Programmers program computers. Developers
develop software (which involves programming computers, but goes beyond that).

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jdavid
in the case of my current employer, its how much you get paid and it stems
from what you education you have. since i graduated with a computer
engineering degree, i get the developer title.

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jaggederest
Yay, let's all waste time arguing about useless semantic differences.

Go build something.

