> If all you have is a strong understanding of algorithms and computation... your just a computer geek. Doesn't make you a good 'programmer' (in the sense that

> If all you have is a strong understanding of algorithms and computation... your just a computer geek. Doesn't make you a good 'programmer' (in the sense that you can produce something someone wants). I think y'all are all using different terms (and I notice the parts-of-HN undercurrent of "technical skills don't matter, you need to be social and build products, startup pivot founder startup" but I digress). To me, someone who can use algorithms et al is a "programmer", which is largely orthogonal to being able to produce something someone wants, call them a developer or something. Not every programmer has to be social client facing; getting detailed functional specs and creating good code to fulfill those specs absolutely does make one a programmer.