- Technicians implement others' designs using skills - Engineers create new designs using knowledge - Scientists create new knowledge "Pure" programmers are

- Technicians implement others' designs using skills - Engineers create new designs using knowledge - Scientists create new knowledge "Pure" programmers are technicians. Computer scientists are engineers or scientists. Plumbing, like programming, offers immediate feedback, is cheap to try on your own, and is useful even if you're not an expert. But plumbers aren't the same as hydraulic engineers or fluid dynamics experts. Faraday taught himself physics by reading the books he was binding as a journeyman, but he was a rare specimen. I'm sure engineering Faradays must exist, but as an electrical engineer I've never seen one.