13 replies to this topic

[shadowx]

I class myself as a developer or coder. I code in PHP mainly and of course HTML etc... and i would consider a programmer to write in C## or something like that. (VB just doesnt count... it really isnt a language, more a collection of crap carefully moulded into a perfect turd shape with no logic involved)

I differentiate between the two by this: Programmers write code, that code is then compiled and saved. Coders write code. That code is saved and compiled when executed, not when saved.

So php remains as human readable code and is turned into binary when executed in the CPU. C## is turned into binary by the developer, well before it is executed.

[innosia]

Maybe I am a programmer. But having writing softwares for years with much hopes, much funs, writing library, games, database apps, I have written most of the kind, gather many source codes, freewares, comparing software to software and its like becoming my life, just to say it is a kind of hobby. I finally get tired of it and find that my life is stumble upon coding, and wish to have an abundant life instead. Working as programmer/analyst is not paid well in my country, and what if you have library this this and that, it all seems nonsense, since freely available library like Open source license code is everywhere and better software, better library, better UI, and more better things growing up day by day and can't seem to defeat them. So programmers or coders do not interest me, money is more important, hehe.

[Xarex]

When I was younger, I was more of a programmer, writing my own code and implementing a lot of new things that hadn't been seen before. Much more energy, more focused, more motivated and a love of programming, but that died out after about 7 years when I "retired." I've known it and been on and off ever since.

As I'm older now, I still consider myself a programmer for smaller tasks, especially when I need to get a task done and I can't find a program to do it, I'll just code it and do it myself. But often times, I find myself more as a coder, especially with PHP, often just modifying code to fit my needs more than programming it on my own. Occasionally, the programmer mode sets in when I need something done and can't find the code to do it, or the code is exactly what I needed but doesn't do exactly what I need and just needs to be changed in order to perform in the same manner, than I will hard code it.

Whenever I refer to programming, I always call it "hard coding."

Coding: modifying, rearranging, using pre-written scripts.
Hard Coding: writing, rewriting, changing entire scripts.

Edited by Xarex, 23 April 2011 - 05:42 PM.

[k_nitin_r]

A programmer and a coder are two different titles for the same person. All they do is write source code for programs. Now, when you speak of software engineers, it's different - they are people who incorporate best practices, software development metrics, and stuff of that sort. Software developers are software engineers. Well, it depends on who you ask.

Basically, the point is that in any firm, you'll come across:
Coders: These are people who write source code for a living. They know the inner stuff of computers. They call it 'The Code'.
Programmers: Programmers are down-to-earn folk who write source code for a living. They do not need a fancy job title to boost their egos but they do yearn for the project manager title.
Software Engineers: They write source code for a living, but they get a pretty good paycheck because of the word "engineer" in their job title. They are just a bunch of programmers at the end of the day.
Software Developers: The term "developer" is typically associated with property development and real estate, but in this case software developers are people who write source code for a living. They consider themselves to be too superior to carry a programmer title and therefore they are developers.
Software Architects: Software architects should be writing source code but they do not write as much as they do. If you find any of these folk, they've spent their years of youth writing source code for a living and they've been completely burned out doing it, so they have grey hair or no hair and they tell you tales about the mythical man month and the source code that they wrote for a living.
Programmer Analyst: These folks write source code for a living. The human resources personnel think that these guys shouldn't be paid as much as architects do because they still have some youth left in them so they are programmers, yet they are analysts when you look at their job title but that doesn't really matter because they write source code for a living.
Project managers: This is one guy who cannot write source code for a living, so simply hangs around the people who can write source code for a living. He or she may or may not have written any code in his or her lifetime but he or she does claim to have had some 'experience' around source code. If these folks start writing source code, run for your life!

Yes, a programmer is a coder is a developer is a software engineer is an analyst programmer (or programmer analyst) in most organizations. The job title carries differences but you do not always see them in the real world, just as you would see the title "project manager" but would not really know if the project manager would be overseeing software development teams, looking at real estate projects, or new product launches.

PS: By the way, Xarex, hard-coding does not mean what you think it means. Hard-coding is when you assign values to variables in your source code without reading them from a configuration file or receiving it as input from the user interface.