Part of the problem is that the discipline is very wide, and there's different mixes of skills needed: +-----------+ |\ business | - excel macros |

Part of the problem is that the discipline is very wide, and there's different mixes of skills needed: +-----------+ |\ business | - excel macros | \ + | | \ users | - web dev | \ | | \ | - back end dev | \ | | \ | - framework dev | \ | | \ | - tooling | \ | | coding \| - OS / compiler / database dev +-----------+ There's no simple cutoff that can mark someone out simply as a developer. And the diagram above doesn't reflect the fact that within each slice of the coding wedge, there's a different mix of technologies, different rates of technology turnover, requiring a different mix of e.g. aptitude to pick up new technologies quickly, vs depth of experience in existing technologies, quite apart from what the specific technologies are.