Differences Between Software Engineers and Programmers

CT610-Alan Burke Wk1
Diploma in Software Engineering
Student Name: Alan Burke
NUI Galway ID Number: 04417461
Course: CT610- Software Engineering
Workshop No: Week 01
Assignments: Question 1&2
Date of Submission: 20.01.19
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CT610-Alan Burke Wk1
Question 1
A software engineer is responsible for the full life cycle of a software product from the design,
research, training, support and implementation. The main tasks performed by a software engineer
include:
 Research, designing, developing and testing OS level of software
 Modify existing software’s to repair errors or to improve performance
 Designing standards for a system to follow whilst preparing and developing solutions
 Analyses user needs and their software requirements to match this
 Consulting with the customer regarding system maintenance and design
 Designing the software that best suits the feedback from the customer
 Supervising the work of programmers, other engineers, technicians and team members
Software engineers and developers are often interchangeable titles in the IT industry, sometimes
giving the title of engineer to a person with the duties of a developer. (Gupta, 2017)
A software programmer often referred to as developer also receives specifications from an engineer
and turns the program design into written instruction codes. This code is designed for a computer to
be able to follow. The programmer must be an expert in coding languages such as C++, Java and
Python. They need to be able to debug, expand, edit and upgrade existing code of a project and be
able to identify and rectify errors. The programmer uses code libraries to simplify writing and is
more often working with engineers nowadays with certain duties intertwined. These include
program design and user need requirements (Raphael, 2016). The programmer cannot be defined as
a developer also as the developer may have coding as just a specific part of their responsibilities. The
developer may have other roles such as documenting features and conceptual analysis (Kim, 2018).
Differences between software engineers and programmers
Education:
Software programmers and engineers can have similar levels of education. They will often both earn
degrees in computer science, software engineering and programming. As part of this they will learn
programming languages such as C++, Java and python. Both professions will share a lot of
similarities. Sometimes the differences can lie in the extent of their education. The programming
does not always need to possess a third level qualification but the engineer will be required to have
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CT610-Alan Burke Wk1
this. The programmer may be exclusively educated in writing code and not the other parts of the
software development cycle. However the engineer will need to understand the process of software
engineering and how to apply it on a developmental project. (Gupta, 2017)
Job responsibilities:
In terms of a project the software engineer is involved In the whole process of development. Unlike
the programmer the engineer will be applying the principles of engineering to the software
development. Along with the coding the programmer completes there is a requirement to complete
a process of software and analysis. (Gupta,2017) The programmer may build the project from the
ground up whereas the engineer will keep in touch with the client and all else that’s included in the
planning of the process. (Gupta, 2017)
The diagram below illustrates the differences in the two roles and how they both fit in the overall
project:
Source: https://www.kttpro.com/2017/02/07/difference-between-a-software-engineer-an-
application-developer-and-a-computer-programmer/
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