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Comment by intelVISA | Hacker News Reader

Whoever wrote this hit the enterprise koolaid a bit too much, you're meant to sip not swallow.

Calling SWE "working in IT" is where it lost me.

The majority of software developers are working on what is, essentially, IT both literally and in the business sense of the word.

And the majority of doctors, nurses and lab technicians work in hospitals, yet they don't all have the same job.

IT the job is nowadays mostly understood to be about installing printers and setting up computers. Software Engineer/Developer/Programmer builds software. Sysadmins manage servers. SREs develop and operate production infrastructure. Nobody knows what DevOps is.

Outside of Germany and its neighbors, nobody thinks these four jobs are the same job.

The dictionary definition of information technology (IT) almost exactly describes software engineering. So what is wrong with calling it "working in IT"?

For reference, Merriam-Webster defines IT as follows:

> the technology involving the development, maintenance, and use of computer systems, software, and networks for the processing and distribution of data

I think the confusion is "IT" the sector and IT the job. Yes, computers are information technology, but saying SWEs work in IT is kind of like saying a pharmacist "works in medicine". Being "in IT" typically means you set up office computers.

> saying a pharmacist "works in medicine"

Is this wrong? I mean, they do work in medicine. You can always be more specific if you want, but I don't see anything wrong with that statement.

> Being "in IT" typically means you set up office computers.

This is probably a thing that varies regionally. Here it is very common to call all the aforementioned jobs "the IT industry".

You’re using MW definitions for industry specific meanings?

(foreign speaker, genuinely curious) How would you phrase it? working in ...?

Not sure what your native language is (for Spanish speakers "working on", "working in", "working at" could be a reasonable distinctions) but think the punchline is that it's software "development" or "engineering" and not simply "IT". Although some may argue they all fall under the same general label as being IT (i'm not opinionated)

Honestly curious why you consider SWE not “working in IT”

Because he doesn't want the negative connotation that comes with it.

Just like the debate about, "is it engineering"; by calling oneself as opposed to 'programmer', it conveys more prestige.

As a SWE, he sees himself in the driver seat of the company and doesn't want to be associated with being 'back-end', 'a cost-center', etc.

20 years later I still cringe a bit at the term "software engineer", but that's a different debate. Given how much work nowadays is about technology, calling 30% of the working population "IT guys" is perhaps not super specific anymore, so language evolved.

Nowadays, "IT" anywhere outside of Europe refers to basically an operational or support role. (I think Europe being the odd one out is an effect of most European business leaders still thinking computers are a fad that'll go away eventually.)

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