Many of us coders have a hard time deciding just what to use for a job title.. there are so many different terms that essentially describe the same job.. developer, engineer, programmer, coder, hacker.. In theory, anyway, they describe the same job. I'm sure many would argue against such simplification. but before you fire off an angry comment bear with me, please, I will explain.
What matters is how I introduce myself to people. It really varies vastly from situation to situation. Most of the time it's a simple "I write computer software".. which usually elicists a response of "aaah..." and a vaguely blank stare... When I introduce myself to one of my mom's friends I make sure to throw in a term "engineer" in there somewhere so my mom can stick her nose up in the air "see? My daughter is an *engineer*" even though she has very little clue about what I really do.. and frankly the idea of an engineer her friends probably have is about as close to my job as Moscow is to Bundtown, Tennessee.
"Why do you sit in front of the computer all they long like this? "
"uh.. mom.. " sigh.
The problem of what to call my job arrives when I talk to someone in my field. Another geek.. because everyone has their own pre-conceptions about what a programmer is and what (s)he isn't.
So after careful consideration of this problem.. well, okay, the reality is closer to "after having nothing better to think about during a boring meeting.." I've decided to define my terminology a little better. I write code for a living, but while I may have the same official job title as some other coders I know I don't really think I should be classified the same way some of them are because there are so many different types of programmers that one general term of "programmer" is just not descriptive enough to be useful.
So there is the term "programmer" -- easiest definition, of course, "one who programs". That is what I do, it's what we all (the general code-writing "we") do.. So this one's easy.. a programmer is someone who writes code.
Then there's "software engineer" -- "one who engineers software". Not every programmer is a software engineer.. in fact I would dare say that vast majority of programmers are not. We all know the type.. they write their code, they do a really good job, code is functional, it does what it should.. but that's where it ends. The finer points of design and esthetics escape them... they just don't think about writing software in those terms.. it's just a job to them. Those people who go the mile above and take time to think through design and would not be caught dead copy-pasting code without at least giving the thought to how it functions as part of the overall design are software engineers. They engineer, not just code.
Lastly, but not leastly.. there are "hackers" -- not in the definition made notorious by media (for whom geeks behind keyboards are not exciting enough.. they had to make them into dangerous masterminds) but in the original term of well.. hacking stuff together. I'm sure we all hack code every now and then.. In a hurry.. need to patch a bug in production version.. a hack is sometimes the only way.. but then there are programmers who never do anything *but* hack. Often solving some of the most complex problems and producing some of the most brilliant solutions that neither of the types listed above could ever come up with.. Unfortunately more often than not.. they're the only ones who can even understand the flow of the code.. so if such a coder gets hit by a steam train.. people left over to maintain their code are essentially screwed. I once attempted to work with such code.. it would have been easier to convert a catholic priest to judaism than to understand how this particular project worked. But it did work and well.
So going by above definitions.. I would have to say I'm a software engineer. Of course next time I introduce myself to someone and give them this entire spiel about how I define my job title they will be asleep by the time I reach the term "software". Maybe I should just say "I'm a professional geek". It's quicker.
