Difference Between Software Engineer and Software Developer

Table of Contents

Software Engineer vs Software Developer

The title of software engineer is one of the most debated and controversial titles one can hold in the software industry. The position entails a job that is pretty much identical to a software developer, and the two are often used interchangeably to mean the same thing. So how do they really differ from each other? Basically, the title of software developer is the more accepted one compared to software engineer as the latter is still under much heated debate.

A software engineer isn’t really a real engineer and can’t be grouped with civil, electrical, electronics, mechanical, and other engineering professions. The spawn of the software engineer came as people tried to escape from being dubbed as a programmer, which carried a negative connotation of having little skills and capabilities. Stemming from the parallel between the engineers innate task of building and the act of building software from scratch, it seemed logical to dub people who build software as software engineers.

Many people argue that software engineers use engineering concepts and ideas in designing and building the software; something they say that isn’t applied by software developers. The main argument against this is the fact that a huge majority of software engineers did not go through an engineering course, and thus are not privy to said concepts and ideas. Majority of software engineers are graduates of computer science and only a very few have an engineering background. Although software engineering programs have begun to appear in a number of schools, it is still not globally accepted to for graduates to carry the title of engineer. Despite this, software engineering is widely gaining popularity and it seems to be just a matter of time before it becomes an accepted engineering discipline.

In the end, this is just a confusing battle between two names for the same exact job. Both are still concerned with designing software that would fulfill the needs of the end user with the expected level of reliability, speed, and cost.

Summary:

1.Software developer is a more accepted term than software engineer
2.A software engineer is said to apply concepts of engineering while a software developer doesn’t


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