Programmers’ Positions

July 13, 2016

I’ve been developing software and programming computers since high-school, and never even knew I was doing it. I never even knew what it was called when I modified a python or xml file. Then I became a script kiddie in college, pounding away at a keyboard learning programming through visual basic.

By the time I left college, I thought I was all-that; hot-to-trot. I did a decent job as a programmer, always creative and pulling together unpredictable solutions to problems. I would sit down and learn a new language for a 3-month project then go on to the next thing. I built games and simple programs for myself, aspiring for the day that I could call myself a “software developer.” Then I wanted to jump from that to being a “software engineer.”

These bold dreams had another addition when I found out that some people call themselves “software architects.” Then it began to click for me and I began to categorize these different roles I’ve heard about. I made a hierarchy with a software-architect on the top and a noob on the bottom.

When I hear “software architect,” I think “the genius that knows exactly what to code and how to code it.” I’ve had the pleasure of meeting some people who could fit that role. 3-months’ worth of work from your average programmer can be imagined, created, and finished in 3 hours by a software architect. They’re similar in role to the producer on a musical album or the director in a movie. They make everything balance perfectly. They’re the best of the best to me.

After a software architect comes the software engineer. The engineer is like an audio engineer, a brain that knows as much as a software architect but no idea how to use it. They are simply people who can do anything and everything as long as they are given a direction. They do what the boss says and can write and debug the code in an instant. They only lack the heightened responsibilities that a software architect holds.

After the engineer comes the developer. The software developer is your run-of-the-mills person that knows how to code and is proficient enough with it to make a decent living. They take longer to get work done but work out great in teams. They help with workload-balancing and can be self-sufficient for all but the biggest problems. They are what the bulk of the computer programming world is composed of. There’s a reason why most programming teams are called development teams.

After the developer are less-eloquent forms of the developer. These are script-kiddies, noobs, and the computer-illiterate. The script-kiddie is someone who knows python, java, or html and flaunts some cool app they made to their friends. The only problem is that the app was copied from a book, stack overflow, or based off of concepts rather than practice. The noob is just starting out because they are comfortable enough with how a computer works to learn more. The computer-illiterate is what I was until I had to use a computer in high school.