What defines a develper?

Pho3nix

Pho3nix

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Read a short post on "..being a developer" and it made some interesting points.
Mainly that as new developments come into fruition software in there example SharePoint Designer when used by someone who knows what they are doing makes a power-user into a developer because they are "developing" solutions to a problem with the help of a easy to use tool. I'm para-phrasing ofcourse and the full blog post is here : http://blog.furuknap.net/laura-rogers-you-are-not-a-developerbut-maybe-you-should-be.

But what makes you a developer? Knowing and using code in your daily working environment? Thoughts?
 
"A software developer is a person concerned with facets of the software development process. Their work includes researching, designing, implementing, and testing software." - Wikipedia

Wiki answers aside, I believe the real question is why are you asking? We can then give a more tailored answer to your question.
 
MrG said:
Wiki answers aside, I believe the real question is why are you asking? We can then give a more tailored answer to your question.
Click to expand...

However, further customisation and add-ons to that answer will cost extra :)
 
Companies have been promising "Developer less" development for ages but it never reaches anything more than a rudimentary level.

Its like WordPress, sure a non developer can build a nice site with it but a custom site tailored to your specific needs is likely to be far more useful.
 
MrG said:
"A software developer is a person concerned with facets of the software development process. Their work includes researching, designing, implementing, and testing software." - Wikipedia

Wiki answers aside, I believe the real question is why are you asking? We can then give a more tailored answer to your question.
Click to expand...

Because I'm intrigued. I've walked around with the title of "Developer" but only really finding out what kind of responsibility such a title holds :erm:
 
Pho3nix said:
Because I'm intrigued. I've walked around with the title of "Developer" but only really finding out what kind of responsibility such a title holds :erm:
Click to expand...

It also depends on the environment you work in.

To me a developer solves problems or innovates via programming ie: is part of the process. A programmer just codes to a spec/instruction.
 
Pho3nix said:
Because I'm intrigued. I've walked around with the title of "Developer" but only really finding out what kind of responsibility such a title holds :erm:
Click to expand...

Does it matter what your title is?

To answer your question: a developer (software) is somebody who can write code professionally. You often get the fresh out of uni n00bs among them calling themselves engineers and then the total ****ers among those daring to call themselves architects.
 
Hamster said:
Does it matter what your title is?

To answer your question: a developer (software) is somebody who can write code professionally. You often get the fresh out of uni n00bs among them calling themselves engineers and then the total ****ers among those daring to call themselves architects.
Click to expand...

I agree with this. Been coding 26 years now and still just call myself a software developer.
 
I would say a developer is someone who can solve a problem that doesn't exist, for a problem that does not matter, for someone who does not care.

If problem!=solved
Hire=new developer
 
If someone asks me what I "do", I just tell them I'm a software developer. My formal job title does have the word "architect" in it (and no, my job title isn't "not an architect" :p ), but the only time I use it is if I'm dealing with a client, vendor or recruiter/search-firm. In casual conversation it's just tacky to use a title that implies importance. I see "software developer" as a vague term, that just means someone who writes software in some capacity or another, which is what I do, and is why I like to use it.

Also, in my experience, titles like "senior software engineer", "staff software engineer", "programmer", "software architect", "chief software architect/engineer", "fellow" and even "manager", "director", "vice president", "managing director", "CTO", etc. have vastly different meanings from company to company, industry to industry and country to country, although for the most part they tend to be consistent within a given company.

Don't get hung up on titles -- although there are some places/people that take them seriously, these are probably not the places/people you would want to work for.
 
cguy said:
If someone asks me what I "do", I just tell them I'm a software developer. My formal job title does have the word "architect" in it (and no, my job title isn't "not an architect" :p ), but the only time I use it is if I'm dealing with a client, vendor or recruiter/search-firm. In casual conversation it's just tacky to use a title that implies importance. I see "software developer" as a vague term, that just means someone who writes software in some capacity or another, which is what I do, and is why I like to use it.
Click to expand...

Also, in my experience, titles like "senior software engineer", "staff software engineer", "programmer", "software architect", "chief software architect/engineer", "fellow" and even "manager", "director", "vice president", "managing director", "CTO", etc. have vastly different meanings from company to company, industry to industry and country to country, although for the most part they tend to be consistent within a given company.

Don't get hung up on titles -- although there are some places/people that take them seriously, these are probably not the places/people you would want to work for.
Click to expand...

Agreed. Companies and jobs/fields differ extremely on technical titles. At Microsoft, for example, the technical department is divided into a few categories with Software development being one of these. The software development department then consists of software engineers, SDETs and PMs. The IT department however consists of network engineers, service engineers, solution engineers etc. Come to think of it, at MS everyone is an engineer except for the Program Managers. :p The same heavily applies to other companies such as Google, Intel etc. It should be noted that these companies are considered engineering companies, so it might be more adequate than John Doe who is a freelance programmer with a diploma in Java who tells everyone he is a software engineer.

The words engineer and architect is abused. Every second person can tell you he is an engineer and every third person will tell you he is an architect of some sort. At many companies (especially in the USA) if you didn't study an engineering/scientific degree (B.Eng. / B.Sc.) you cannot call yourself an engineer. Then again, the formal definition of an engineer is: "A person who designs, builds, or maintains engines, machines, or public works". From that definition almost anyone can be called an engineer. :erm:

As cguy said, it's just a title. Nothing to get excited about.
 
Developer means that you can fix/install your families Pc's, vcr's, crashed hardrives and want to/enjoy doing it :)
 
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