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Comment by booleandilemma | Hacker News Reader

What is the difference between a computer programmer and a software application developer?

Aren’t these titles used interchangeably?

As titles they are often used interchangeably, but the BLS categorizes them separately based on kind of an old-fashioned idea of how software is developed. The distinction is that software developers[1] plan out how software will work and the computer programmers[2] write the code to make it work.

The idea that these are separate roles is rapidly going out of fashion in the industry and is already pretty outdated. Only 300k workers are categorized as computer programmers while 1.3 million are categorized as software developers and on top of that the number of software developers is projected to grow by 24% over the next decade while the number of computer programmers is projected to decline by 7%.

[1] https://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/...

[2] https://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/...

I have always listed my occupation as "Computer Programmer" on my tax return, though I have a CS degree and do everything from database administration to network administration to software design and development (including writing code).

I think you might be missing the point. Think of it this way. Ask yourself, is there a difference between a software consultant and a software freelancer? Everything else equal which person do you think gets paid more a consultant or a freelancer.

the term "programmer" is generally used to describe software jobs where you aren't expected to do much design or critical thinking or have in-depth knowledge of computer science or engineering concepts.

A good analogy might be like the difference between a doctor and a nurse.

I design and implement system architecture and user interfaces, manage people and projects, plan future areas of R&D, etc. and I still call myself (in conversation) a computer programmer. I find it helps distinguish me from all the talking heads in this industry who couldn't actually build an information system if their lives depended upon it.

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