this post was submitted on 06 Oct 2023
482 points (99.2% liked)

Firefox

20357 readers
24 users here now

/c/firefox

A place to discuss the news and latest developments on the open-source browser Firefox.


Rules

1. Adhere to the instance rules

2. Be kind to one another

3. Communicate in a civil manner


Reporting

If you would like to bring an issue to the moderators attention, please use the "Create Report" feature on the offending comment or post and it will be reviewed as time allows.


founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] max@feddit.nl 14 points 2 years ago (3 children)

There is quite a big difference between a software developer and a software engineer. Most of the time, a developer just does what has been assigned to them. An engineer will be taking part (or completely doing) the architecture/design process as well.

[–] median_user@lemmy.one 10 points 2 years ago (1 children)

This is not true at all, except maybe in very specific places (e.g. some jurisdictions do not allow you to call yourself an engineer without a specific qualification).

Software Engineer and Developer are essentially interchangeable terms and largely a matter of taste.

[–] max@feddit.nl 2 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Those terms really aren’t interchangeable over here. At all. (NL). For the reasons I listed above. “Developer” (or “ontwikkelaar” in Dutch) is monkey get instructions, monkey do things. A software engineer would get a request for something, research and figure out the solution, then build it. Source: I’m a software engineer.

[–] median_user@lemmy.one 3 points 2 years ago (1 children)

It may well be different in NL, I'm not going to argue with that. But 'ontwikkelaar' is literally a different word in a different language - no surprise that it may have different semantics to the closest word in English!

[–] max@feddit.nl 1 points 2 years ago

It’s a literal translation, and most vacancies are posted in English anyway.

[–] azdle@news.idlestate.org 1 points 2 years ago

Eh, as someone who's first software job was as an "Associate Software Enginner" while still in school (undergrad), I'm pretty sure I can say it's not that cut and dry. I've actually never had a software job that didn't use the "engineer" title. I've found "developer" and "engineer" are used interchangeably.

[–] CadeJohnson@slrpnk.net -3 points 2 years ago (1 children)

this seems to reflect the simultaneous co-opting of the titles "architect" (one who designs physical edifices such as buildings) and "engineer" (one who applies math and science principles to problems of infrastructure and industrial production). We all understand what is meant by design, but that does not mean a software design must be devised by an "engineer" or an "architect" anymore than an interior design (though there are also some self-styled "design architects" roaming about). So is it possible to say what is different about software development and software engineering without saying the engineer is an architect? Is it that software developers do not design anything (which in its simplest terms is 'artful arrangement')? That seems arbitrary - though I agree that there can also be a fine line sometimes between, say, architecture and structural engineering.

[–] watty@lemm.ee 5 points 2 years ago

Define "engineer" in a way that accurately describes what you think is an "engineer" while simultaneously excluding software engineers.