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I Write Software. What am I?
Computer scientist or software engineer just don’t seem to fit
I write software, but I’m not sure what to call myself. It’s kind of weird. Am I a programmer? A developer? A coder? I guess I all three of those things — but as a group, we seem to reach for something more when labeling our profession.
Some say that I’m a computer scientist. To be a scientist, one has to follow the scientific method. To gain any credibility at all as a scientist, one usually needs to be associated with a scientific institution and publish scientific papers.
When I create a software program, I don’t do science. I don’t follow the scientific method. I don’t form a hypothesis and I don’t do research and collect data. I don’t conduct experiments and I don’t draw conclusions.
Therefore, I’m not a computer “scientist.”
Some say that I’m a software engineer. But when I create a software program, I don’t “design, build, or maintain engines, machines, or public works.” (If you want to try to argue that I do those things, follow the links to all the definitions. You won’t find anything resembling software therein.) To be an engineer, one has to go to school and be officially licensed. One has to design tangible things.
