Probably an question with an easy answer, but now that I have established the difference between an Engineer and a Technician, I want to know the difference between a developer, a programmer and a software engineer. There is a difference right?

The traditional software development life cycle goes something like this:

1) requirements gathering
2) requirements analysis
3) systems analysis and design
4) implementation (programming)
5) testing
6) installation and maintenance

My understanding is something like this: a "programmer" is someone who only does #4 (and maybe a bit of unit testing, so #5). A "software developer" is someone who is involved in more than just the implementation - they can be responsible for most if not all of the above.

The term "software engineer" is an American thing, I think... where I'm from (Canada), you can't call yourself an "engineer" unless you have a degree in a recognized branch of engineering, and up until very recently I don't think "software engineering" was considered a proper branch of engineering.

Having said all that, though, some companies play fast and loose with the job titles. In my career so far I've been a "software developer", a "programmer/analyst", and a "software engineer" (that last one is with an American-headquartered company). My job duties in all three places were pretty much the same (i.e. pretty much the entire software life cycle).

Software Engineering is considered a proper branch of engineering in canada. Software engineers not computer science graduates with 1 or 2 software architecture courses are usually responsible for managing and planning large mission critical projects(read pacemakers, autopilots etc...) All in all it is an engineer(Not a technician!) who applies engineering design concepts to software projects.

Hi scorbett!

You (and many among you) forget one important part in the software development cycle: Documentation!

I've been working in projects where documentation had a very low status and after a while the entire project pretty much breaks down, especially if developers come and go.

Martin

So what do you guys do? I am at the moment a hardware guy and have not idea how to even write a program. I have heard of C language and others. but I want to know how I can write a program that will get my box to wake me every morning with the sound of an female orgasmn.
Also how can I prove that the customers EMI was the guilty party, not the engineer that advised the customer to not try to replace the system board while the engineer was paying parking expenses.
I hate london.