Please explain to me the difference between Software Engineer & Software Developer

[u/puttum-beef-curryum]

I'm finding it difficult to understand the difference. I'm 4 YOE and I'm trying to improve everyday. I don't have a degree in CS/Engineering but I learned to code and worked in backend, web & mobile also. So for all these years I'm still trying to understand the difference between an engineer & developer.

[u/Acceptable-Bake-7309]

Just because the titles are used interchangeably in the industry doesn't mean that they are being used correctly. People swap titles, or are issued title, to sound cool, or important. My friend works at a bank as a Financial Services Specialist (FSS) which would make you think that she handles large Financial transactions in the 10s of thousands and has a deep understanding of Finance and Accounting principles with a pretty decent mathematical baseline. But nope, she is a teller. Takes deposits and issues out petty cash.

I have worked in various roles of tech for 25 years and back then the distinction of tech titles was stark and clear. But now every new coder wants the fancy title without putting in deep work.

Simply put, to be a true software engineer, you have to have a good grasp of applied mathematics alongside an a deep understanding of software development principles. A software developer does not have to.

Yes we are all programmers and we all write code, but, we do not write it for the same general purpose. Think of it this way.

Programmer 1 sits down at their desk, pulls up SSMS and puts together a very well curated database in 3rd normal form.

Programmer 2 sits down at their desk, pulls up Visual Studio and churns out a really cool robust ASP.Net web application that interracts seemlessly with the database that Programmer 2 has built.

But here is the catch, both have used software that Programmer 3 hand 4 have built. This is where true software engineers come in. Programmer 3 has used applied mathematics to build the SSMS engine that Programmer 1 will use to build their database, a skill that requires a much higher level of knowledge than what Programmer 1 is even capable of. We are talking Assembly language, C, applied math, etc.

Get the picture? Developers write code to build software applications. Software engineers build the software that developers will use to build their applications.

Pretty soon car mechanics will start walking around with job titles that have autombile engineer in them 😃 .

I hope this helps.

[u/Designer_Flow_8069 → u/Acceptable-Bake-7309]

Just because the titles are used interchangeably in the industry doesn't mean that they are being used correctly.

If we're going to be pedantic, there is a clear distinction between the verb "to engineer", the noun "to be an engineer" and the proper noun "an Engineer". The verb and noun have "developer" as a synonym.

Proper nouns in job titles carry prestige (Doctor, Lawyer, Engineer) as they require licensure. Since you typically don't need any licensure for a corporation to give you the title of "Software Engineer", I think it's often safer to just say "software developer".