

When can someone be considered a developer? - browsemybooks

I mentioned to a friend of mine that I was looking for a developer for my startup and he replied "don't waste your degree, why not build it yourself?"<p>A bit of background: I have a CompSci degree. Am comfortable programming in multiple languages (c++, c#, java, python, php etc) and have built an enterprise level (web-based) application in the not too distant past.
The problem is, I don't consider myself a developer. I've had a look at popular engineering interview questions (e.g. the ones from google, or microsoft), whilst I remember the concepts from my degree and can sometimes string together a semi-coherent answer, I'm usually stumped. I've always been more interested in the application of technology, as opposed to the tech itself. So once my degree was over, I became a corporate strategy analyst for a FTSE100 company (I'm based in England).<p>I've spoken with a number of CompSci guys that did something totally different after their degree (banking, consulting, fashion designer) as well as more techie guys. Nobody seems to be able to provide a coherent answer.<p>So, in my inaugural HN post, I ask, when can someone be considered a developer?
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sosuke
I've been trying to be a developer for 12 years now and I've been paid for
being a developer for 8 years and I still don't consider myself a real
developer in the programming sense of the word. I have no college degree. I
develop web applications for the most part and I'm almost never solving any
unsolved problem but putting together Frankenstein applications and late at
night screaming "IT'S ALIVE!" when I can run them without an error for the
first time.

I figure one day I'll wake up and finally think I've made it, that I'm what I
always thought a developer was and then I'll realized that there is still more
to be done.

But if you must put a mark on it, a good developer can ship his product or
piece of code, so you have a great background, open up your IDE of choice and
start coding, eventually you'll get something you are ready to ship and then
after you ship it keep fixing it because it won't be done until you say it is
done but getting it out there is important.

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nsfmc
This may not answer your question, but it reminds me of a time when i was
talking to someone and i made some comment about how i was a pretty reasonable
web developer and he quickly responded

"no, i think you misunderstand, you're a web developer when you know weird
positioning bugs and javascript inconsistencies between browser releases. you
probably don't want to be that person, or at least, probably not yet."

because the unspoken statement or it might have been actually spoken was "keep
designing and working at a high level and find acute domain expertise
elsewhere until you really _want_ that level of knowledge."

and i think that when it comes to design, you really don't want _too_ much
domain knowledge. certainly you want some, but you don't want to be
constraining your design before you've even made something. But you need it at
some point, but i think, and this is the important part, that you _know_ when
you need it

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iuguy
You're a developer when you have a piece of code that you've written is in
production. Until that happens, you're a coder, a programmer, a bug monkey.
When you have code in production, that code is something you developed. You
are a developer. It's the difference between an aspiring writer and a
published one.

