7 ms·

Job Titles in the Web Industry

45 points by shadeless 13y ago

orenbarzilai 13y ago
Forgot to mention "growth hacker"
- benburleson 13y ago
  Also forgot "Social Media Maven"
- will118 13y ago
  They didn't, it was the first one I looked for: _______ Hacker - Cheesy for anything with the possible exception of a job with the specific responsibility of finding security exploits.
rakesharora86 13y ago
Also noticed some people using - ____ wizard
mathattack 13y ago
Good list! Do we put ____ guru in the same bin as the ninjas? It would be worth adding data analyst or data scientist, as this is a growing aspect of managing a platform.
emillerm 13y ago
I know a lot of people who would get offended if you said UI designer is a synonym for Visual designer. Is it really common to interchange the two?
Prufrock1 13y ago
What about Web master, from the web 1.0 days?
- Andrenid 13y ago
  A Web Master is still a real role. More among smaller businesses who don't have a web team, or bigger businesses that outsource most the technical aspects of their web presence. A Web Master generally does upkeep/maintenance of the website, minor modifications/customisations, content updates, maybe some social media stuff. "A little bit of everything but not a lot of any thing". People sometimes give it a different title these days but I don't see why Web Master isn't still valid.
  - PavlovsCat 13y ago
    I wouldn't call it a job, but I'm the webmaster of my personal sites. I haven't heard of a different title for the same thing either... ? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webmaster http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webmaster "A little bit of everything but not a lot of any thing". I don't think wearing many hats has to mean you're subpar with a specific hat; just like having hobbies doesn't make you less of a front end developer, neither does having an eye for design or people skills or knowing backend stuff. It's not like everybody who wears just one hat always and automatically masters that subject, that's just a fallacy. To the contrary, we all know that having expertise in wildly varying fields can inform and enhance the creative and analytical processes a great deal. Too little focus is bad, but so is too much focus (or, "specialization is for insects").
mijustin 13y ago
This is a pretty good list! It does, of course, exclude titles that are not specific to the web industry: - CEO - salesperson - HR person - accounting There is an argument for adding "customer support" to this list, as a person doing customer support for web-based products/services generally need a specific skill-set.
columbo 13y ago
Good job on this list, for decades titles have been really lousy in this industry. I didn't see Technical/Web/Application Architect on the list. It's been very common to add "architect" to the end of a title, even to go as far as to have Application Architects under Sr. Application Architects... I wonder if eventually we'll have "Sr. Principal Application Architects". I'm curious to see what HN would consider calling an Application/Technical/Product Architect and if there is a better name or more clear description.
- untog 13y ago
  I actually think 'Architect' is a pretty good term, when used correctly. Someone who plans out the architecture of an app, maybe lays the groundwork, but leaves the actual development to others.
EnderMB 13y ago
> Web Design: ...Specific skills would be design-tools-of-choice, HTML, CSS, and light JavaScript. I've worked in a startup, and at a few design/web agencies, and I'm yet to see a single "Web Designer" write HTML/CSS, let alone JavaScript. A Web Designer does just that; creates designs for the web. There are some designers that like to write mark-up, but they never class themselves as designers without mentioning that they can handle front-end development too. I find it safe to say that if someone classes themselves as a designer, they design. Writing mark-up is not design. One other issue I have is with the prefix "Lead". Senior indicates experience, whereas Lead states that they lead a team. My first full-time job after university was at a start-up and after six months I became the Lead Developer. I was in no way Senior, but the title Lead was correct as I led all development, along with the decisions that came along with it.
- flyosity 13y ago
  And on the flip side, if you are a freelancer with a title of "Web Designer" then it is expected that you can also build the webpages that you create. Businesses want someone to design & build them a website and if you can only do part of that job then you can only make part of the money they want to pay. I don't know anyone doing web design consulting/freelancing who can't also write HTML and CSS.
  - EnderMB 13y ago
    I've met a few freelancers that claim to be able to do both, but they tend to fall into either the designer or developer camp; either a good developer that can just about use Photoshop, or a designer that can throw some mark-up together. In each instance they've always classed themselves as "Web Designer and Developer" and never as either. Either way, I'd never hire one person to do everything, and no company I've ever worked at, including non-tech companies have ever been ignorant enough to suggest that one person should do everything. A designer designs and a developer develops. I wouldn't expect a plasterer to fit my windows on my house.
    - bluthru 13y ago
drdaeman 13y ago
Missing "full stack code monkey" and "jack of all trades (master of {none,all,missing deadlines,you decide})" titles. I use those from time to time, when I'm totally positive the irony be understood correctly.
untog 13y ago
Just wait until you try to get a visa using these titles. The government is pretty humourless about "ninjas" and the like, and I've even been questioned about my transition from "Software Engineer" to "Web Developer" before (doing the exact same thing in both).
arxpoetica 13y ago
Missing: UI Engineer
- arxpoetica 13y ago
  Also, there is a growing cadre of people who specialize in data visualizations. What title suits someone who does primarily data visualizations? I also, for example, consider myself a storyteller—though I spend my time coding stories—on the web. Is there such a thing as web storyteller? What's the correct title here?
kabouseng 13y ago
Interesting question being asked in the comment section I'd like to repeat here. Is it correct to call yourself a (software, web, backend, whatever) engineer without actually holding an university engineering degree?
- jlas 13y ago
  Why not? If someone hires you to be an engineer and you succeed, then go for it. In the end I think what matters most in what you call yourself is the confidence you have in your skills.
  - afandian 13y ago
    Because 'Engineer' is a regulated / protected term in a lot of places. You can get in big trouble calling yourself an 'engineer'. There's a whole debate about this. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_engineer#Use_of_the_title_.22Engineer.22 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_engineer#Use_of_the_ti...
    - kamjam 13y ago
      I take your point, but I think it depends on where you work. I used to be a "web developer", I still consider myself that (I don't particularly care what my title is tbh). When I started job hunting a few years back companies (in the UK) were advertising for "Software Engineers". I didn't want to sell myself as subpar so my job titles got rewritten on my CV to help market myself. At some point, the term "web developer" got associated with people just "messing around" with non-serious tech, scripted languages for example were seen as for people just starting out and not serious, whereas any serious "software engineer" would use OOP, design principles and frameworks. This is amongst people I worked with, so by no means a reflection of whole industry.
      - afandian 13y ago
        Certainly it does. I used to be a Software Engineer. I'm now a Developer. I've got a new job lined up where I'm going to be an R&D Programmer. I'm still the same person (although the work will be slightly different in each case). I wasn't prescribing either way, I was just answering your question.
jlas 13y ago
One title I found interesting recently was Rasmus Lerdorf's (creator of PHP.) He is a 'Distinguished Engineer' at Etsy (http://lerdorf.com/resume/ http://lerdorf.com/resume/)
- Tyrannosaurs 13y ago
  Alternatively he could use the title Jeff Atwood jokingly bestowed on him: "History's Greatest Monster". Jeff doesn't like PHP much.
jedberg 13y ago
> SEO Specialist As someone who has been called "one of the world's experts on SEO", let me just say this title and industry is BS. Here is my expert opinion on SEO: Write good content, make it easy for a human to read, and get other humans to share it with other humans in their network of friends. I'll admit that there is a very small set of things you can so to help your rankings in search engines: have a descriptive URL, a unique title on each page, a proper robots.txt, a sitemap, basically all the stuff that is called out in the Google Webmaster tools. Beyond that it is all snake oil. I challenge anyone to show my objective metrics proving any one SEO technique works.
- nkuttler 13y ago
  I think the people who get #1 for "buy viagra" and the like would disagree. But yes, the snake oil stuff works only temporarily.
  - jedberg 13y ago
    I will concede that the "snake oil" works in the short term. If your business thrives on the one time short term burst (like the #1 for buy viagra) then sure, it works. But if your goal is to build a long term sustainable business, then those things won't work, as you point out.
- ssharp 13y ago
  If you're hiring someone to do SEO, they need to not only implement SEO tactics (like you say, URL's, title tags, robots, GWT, etc.), but also create a surrounding SEO program/strategy. Doing things like keyword research, selecting keywords to target audience segments, measuring the effectiveness of the targeting, etc. is all part of what an SEO should be doing. You're not simply optimizing SERP rankings as much as possible. A good SEO should be able to bring in results and measure that their plan that brings in 10k visitors and results in $10k in revenue is superior to the plan that brings in 100k visitors but only 5k in revenue. For these reasons, I think it's completely unjust to call SEO work beyond tactical implementation "snake oil". Sure, there are less-than-honest people calling themselves "SEO Specialists/Strategists/Ninjas/Whatever", but if I'm a company hiring an SEO, I expect MEASURED business results in return and scrupulous and honest contractors, employees, and agencies should be able to deliver that.
CodeCube 13y ago
Job titles (in my experience) have been 100% worthless to my day to day. I go in and do what's necessary based on what skills I have. Sometimes that means writing code for the web (html, css, etc.), sometimes that means writing a windows service to run a long running or recurring process, sometimes it means writing stored procedures, and sometimes it means writing a process to automate deployments. It's always upset me a little that I've had to communicate with people using this narrow definition of what I do from day to day. And so, I prefer the title Software Engineer because it's not specific to mobile, web, devops, etc.
- jarek 13y ago
  Some people who can do a wider range of tasks are useful, and at some companies necessary, but division of labour was set up for a reason.
  - CodeCube 13y ago
    Yeah, that's true. I really enjoy working with a) designers, and b) good IT/devops people. I definitely wasn't trying to suggest there shouldn't be specialization ... but it is frustrating when you run up against no-my-job kind of people.
scrabble 13y ago
When writing resumes in the past I've taken lousy job titles and updated them with actual job titles equivalent to the work I was doing -- for example changing "Software Developer" to "Front End Developer" or "Full Stack Developer". What's the opinion on this? Is it considered deceptive if it matches the work that you were doing? My thought is that it more accurately represents what you were doing for HR filters, since I don't really care about my title on a personal level.
- grey-area 13y ago
  Sounds fair to me. As long as you're not being deceptive about what the job actually entailed, and are trying to describe it more fully, I see no problem with switching job titles - they're just a descriptive label. Job titles in software development are mostly invented out of whole cloth anyway as it's such a young and dynamic profession, and many labels are borrowed from other professions solely to lend a patina of authority to the role - developers are not engineers or architects in my opinion except by analogy.
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
ChrisAntaki 13y ago
What if you actually are a Ninja?
efa 13y ago
I used to hate telling people I was a Web Developer. People would always say, "oh you build websites! I've done that some myself with Front Page!". Basically most of my career I've done traditional business applications. Just happens they have a web interface. So I always just say Software Developer.
troymc 13y ago
It bothers me that the word "designer" has been twisted by the web community to mean only non-engineering design (e.g. design of aesthetic appearance). All engineering students must take "design" classes where they learn to design things like bridges, electrical circuits, distribution systems, spacecraft, snowmobiles, software, or boilers. Is that not design?
- a3voices 13y ago
  Anything that the end user sees counts as "design". As such, electrical circuits and the internals of software don't really count. They're hidden from the user.
  - troymc 13y ago
    Is this somehow the official definition or are you just being sarcastic?
    - a3voices 13y ago
      I don't think it's an official definition but it's how I interpret it, and probably how others do as well.
      - troymc 13y ago
        In my experience, it's only the web community who has this "look and feel" definition of design. An electrical engineer who designs an electrical circuit calls that process "circuit design." An aerospace engineer who designs a spacecraft trajectory calls that process "trajectory design." See the Wikipedia article on design: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Design https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Design You'll see that the web community is living in a language bubble.
  - dagw 13y ago
    The difference between a well designed and badly designed circuit can make a huge difference in performance and longevity of product, which is definitely something the end user 'sees'.
nnq 13y ago
> Software Engineer / Programmer - This has come to mean "programming, but not for the web." ...whaaat?!
sologoub 13y ago
A Product Manager is absolutely not similar to a Project Manager. These are two completely different jobs and skill sets. While a common misconception, Product managers are charged with knowing the market/users/competition and driving the product to commercial success, as much as a development success. Project/program managers focus on specific delivery.
- ssharp 13y ago
  Like most other job titles involving the web, I think "Product Manager" can mean different things to different companies. Coming from the traditional marketing definition of the role, a product manager is typically the "CEO" of the product and is in charge of aligning the product with the market. In tech, particularly with smaller companies and startups, the need to wear many hats, and the unique issues with project management in relation to software development, has often times seen the product manager also take on project management duties. This may be a mistake or may be a requirement, depending on the resources of the company, but I largely agree with the structure of having both a product manager and a program manager and not blending the two.
  - sologoub 13y ago
    Achieving commercial success often means managing delivery as well, but saying the two roles are equivalent is a mistake. Someone who is a true product manager, can usually pickup project management duties. The inverse is not true. I have seen many times someone with a project management background trying to get into product management without shifting the attitude or thinking the two are one and the same, only to drive developers nuts and fail to deliver good products.
cruise02 13y ago
> Dev Ops: I wish this had a more job-title-y feeling to it. As it stands it sounds like what you would call the whole team of people with this job. That is what we call a whole team of people at my company. Most of the people on the team have the title Build Engineer or Automation Engineer, along with a few System Administrators.
PhrosTT 13y ago
Do any job titles these days warrant the 'Web' prefix? So much software touches the web it's kind of pointless. I think you can tack on 'Front End' if you're good with JS, MV*, HTML/CSS.... and 'Back End' if you understand DB concepts & scalability or architecture stuff.
- ryanSrich 13y ago
  > 'Front End' if you're good with JS, MV*, HTML/CSS.... and 'Back End' if you understand DB concepts & scalability or architecture stuff It's been my experience as a front-end developer that you need to understand the entire stack. From the wireframes to the database. Perhaps this is a "full-stack" developer to some, but there's been an increase in the amount of "front-end developer" job postings that require you understand every aspect of the application. If the user will eventually see that data, then it's the responsibility of the front-end developer, this includes all information stored in the database and the ability to store, manipulate, and create that data.
patrickread 13y ago
Why is "Mobile _____" overly specific, but something like "JavaScript Developer" or "SEO Specialist" isn't? Responsive design/developing could definitely fall under "Front End Developer", but I feel like it's as focused a title as some of the other ones.

45 points by shadeless 13y ago

orenbarzilai 13y ago

Forgot to mention "growth hacker"

benburleson 13y ago
Also forgot "Social Media Maven"
will118 13y ago
They didn't, it was the first one I looked for: _______ Hacker - Cheesy for anything with the possible exception of a job with the specific responsibility of finding security exploits.

rakesharora86 13y ago

Also noticed some people using - ____ wizard

mathattack 13y ago

Good list! Do we put ____ guru in the same bin as the ninjas? It would be worth adding data analyst or data scientist, as this is a growing aspect of managing a platform.

emillerm 13y ago

I know a lot of people who would get offended if you said UI designer is a synonym for Visual designer. Is it really common to interchange the two?

Prufrock1 13y ago

What about Web master, from the web 1.0 days?

Andrenid 13y ago
A Web Master is still a real role. More among smaller businesses who don't have a web team, or bigger businesses that outsource most the technical aspects of their web presence. A Web Master generally does upkeep/maintenance of the website, minor modifications/customisations, content updates, maybe some social media stuff. "A little bit of everything but not a lot of any thing". People sometimes give it a different title these days but I don't see why Web Master isn't still valid.
- PavlovsCat 13y ago
  I wouldn't call it a job, but I'm the webmaster of my personal sites. I haven't heard of a different title for the same thing either... ? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webmaster http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webmaster "A little bit of everything but not a lot of any thing". I don't think wearing many hats has to mean you're subpar with a specific hat; just like having hobbies doesn't make you less of a front end developer, neither does having an eye for design or people skills or knowing backend stuff. It's not like everybody who wears just one hat always and automatically masters that subject, that's just a fallacy. To the contrary, we all know that having expertise in wildly varying fields can inform and enhance the creative and analytical processes a great deal. Too little focus is bad, but so is too much focus (or, "specialization is for insects").

mijustin 13y ago

This is a pretty good list! It does, of course, exclude titles that are not specific to the web industry: - CEO - salesperson - HR person - accounting There is an argument for adding "customer support" to this list, as a person doing customer support for web-based products/services generally need a specific skill-set.

columbo 13y ago

Good job on this list, for decades titles have been really lousy in this industry. I didn't see Technical/Web/Application Architect on the list. It's been very common to add "architect" to the end of a title, even to go as far as to have Application Architects under Sr. Application Architects... I wonder if eventually we'll have "Sr. Principal Application Architects". I'm curious to see what HN would consider calling an Application/Technical/Product Architect and if there is a better name or more clear description.

untog 13y ago
I actually think 'Architect' is a pretty good term, when used correctly. Someone who plans out the architecture of an app, maybe lays the groundwork, but leaves the actual development to others.

EnderMB 13y ago

> Web Design: ...Specific skills would be design-tools-of-choice, HTML, CSS, and light JavaScript. I've worked in a startup, and at a few design/web agencies, and I'm yet to see a single "Web Designer" write HTML/CSS, let alone JavaScript. A Web Designer does just that; creates designs for the web. There are some designers that like to write mark-up, but they never class themselves as designers without mentioning that they can handle front-end development too. I find it safe to say that if someone classes themselves as a designer, they design. Writing mark-up is not design. One other issue I have is with the prefix "Lead". Senior indicates experience, whereas Lead states that they lead a team. My first full-time job after university was at a start-up and after six months I became the Lead Developer. I was in no way Senior, but the title Lead was correct as I led all development, along with the decisions that came along with it.

flyosity 13y ago
And on the flip side, if you are a freelancer with a title of "Web Designer" then it is expected that you can also build the webpages that you create. Businesses want someone to design & build them a website and if you can only do part of that job then you can only make part of the money they want to pay. I don't know anyone doing web design consulting/freelancing who can't also write HTML and CSS.
- EnderMB 13y ago
  I've met a few freelancers that claim to be able to do both, but they tend to fall into either the designer or developer camp; either a good developer that can just about use Photoshop, or a designer that can throw some mark-up together. In each instance they've always classed themselves as "Web Designer and Developer" and never as either. Either way, I'd never hire one person to do everything, and no company I've ever worked at, including non-tech companies have ever been ignorant enough to suggest that one person should do everything. A designer designs and a developer develops. I wouldn't expect a plasterer to fit my windows on my house.
  - bluthru 13y ago

drdaeman 13y ago

Missing "full stack code monkey" and "jack of all trades (master of {none,all,missing deadlines,you decide})" titles. I use those from time to time, when I'm totally positive the irony be understood correctly.

untog 13y ago

Just wait until you try to get a visa using these titles. The government is pretty humourless about "ninjas" and the like, and I've even been questioned about my transition from "Software Engineer" to "Web Developer" before (doing the exact same thing in both).

arxpoetica 13y ago

Missing: UI Engineer

arxpoetica 13y ago
Also, there is a growing cadre of people who specialize in data visualizations. What title suits someone who does primarily data visualizations? I also, for example, consider myself a storyteller—though I spend my time coding stories—on the web. Is there such a thing as web storyteller? What's the correct title here?

kabouseng 13y ago

Interesting question being asked in the comment section I'd like to repeat here. Is it correct to call yourself a (software, web, backend, whatever) engineer without actually holding an university engineering degree?

jlas 13y ago
Why not? If someone hires you to be an engineer and you succeed, then go for it. In the end I think what matters most in what you call yourself is the confidence you have in your skills.
- afandian 13y ago
  Because 'Engineer' is a regulated / protected term in a lot of places. You can get in big trouble calling yourself an 'engineer'. There's a whole debate about this. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_engineer#Use_of_the_title_.22Engineer.22 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_engineer#Use_of_the_ti...
  - kamjam 13y ago
    I take your point, but I think it depends on where you work. I used to be a "web developer", I still consider myself that (I don't particularly care what my title is tbh). When I started job hunting a few years back companies (in the UK) were advertising for "Software Engineers". I didn't want to sell myself as subpar so my job titles got rewritten on my CV to help market myself. At some point, the term "web developer" got associated with people just "messing around" with non-serious tech, scripted languages for example were seen as for people just starting out and not serious, whereas any serious "software engineer" would use OOP, design principles and frameworks. This is amongst people I worked with, so by no means a reflection of whole industry.
    - afandian 13y ago
      Certainly it does. I used to be a Software Engineer. I'm now a Developer. I've got a new job lined up where I'm going to be an R&D Programmer. I'm still the same person (although the work will be slightly different in each case). I wasn't prescribing either way, I was just answering your question.

jlas 13y ago

One title I found interesting recently was Rasmus Lerdorf's (creator of PHP.) He is a 'Distinguished Engineer' at Etsy (http://lerdorf.com/resume/ http://lerdorf.com/resume/)

Tyrannosaurs 13y ago
Alternatively he could use the title Jeff Atwood jokingly bestowed on him: "History's Greatest Monster". Jeff doesn't like PHP much.

jedberg 13y ago

> SEO Specialist As someone who has been called "one of the world's experts on SEO", let me just say this title and industry is BS. Here is my expert opinion on SEO: Write good content, make it easy for a human to read, and get other humans to share it with other humans in their network of friends. I'll admit that there is a very small set of things you can so to help your rankings in search engines: have a descriptive URL, a unique title on each page, a proper robots.txt, a sitemap, basically all the stuff that is called out in the Google Webmaster tools. Beyond that it is all snake oil. I challenge anyone to show my objective metrics proving any one SEO technique works.

nkuttler 13y ago
I think the people who get #1 for "buy viagra" and the like would disagree. But yes, the snake oil stuff works only temporarily.
- jedberg 13y ago
  I will concede that the "snake oil" works in the short term. If your business thrives on the one time short term burst (like the #1 for buy viagra) then sure, it works. But if your goal is to build a long term sustainable business, then those things won't work, as you point out.
ssharp 13y ago
If you're hiring someone to do SEO, they need to not only implement SEO tactics (like you say, URL's, title tags, robots, GWT, etc.), but also create a surrounding SEO program/strategy. Doing things like keyword research, selecting keywords to target audience segments, measuring the effectiveness of the targeting, etc. is all part of what an SEO should be doing. You're not simply optimizing SERP rankings as much as possible. A good SEO should be able to bring in results and measure that their plan that brings in 10k visitors and results in $10k in revenue is superior to the plan that brings in 100k visitors but only 5k in revenue. For these reasons, I think it's completely unjust to call SEO work beyond tactical implementation "snake oil". Sure, there are less-than-honest people calling themselves "SEO Specialists/Strategists/Ninjas/Whatever", but if I'm a company hiring an SEO, I expect MEASURED business results in return and scrupulous and honest contractors, employees, and agencies should be able to deliver that.

CodeCube 13y ago

Job titles (in my experience) have been 100% worthless to my day to day. I go in and do what's necessary based on what skills I have. Sometimes that means writing code for the web (html, css, etc.), sometimes that means writing a windows service to run a long running or recurring process, sometimes it means writing stored procedures, and sometimes it means writing a process to automate deployments. It's always upset me a little that I've had to communicate with people using this narrow definition of what I do from day to day. And so, I prefer the title Software Engineer because it's not specific to mobile, web, devops, etc.

jarek 13y ago
Some people who can do a wider range of tasks are useful, and at some companies necessary, but division of labour was set up for a reason.
- CodeCube 13y ago
  Yeah, that's true. I really enjoy working with a) designers, and b) good IT/devops people. I definitely wasn't trying to suggest there shouldn't be specialization ... but it is frustrating when you run up against no-my-job kind of people.

scrabble 13y ago

When writing resumes in the past I've taken lousy job titles and updated them with actual job titles equivalent to the work I was doing -- for example changing "Software Developer" to "Front End Developer" or "Full Stack Developer". What's the opinion on this? Is it considered deceptive if it matches the work that you were doing? My thought is that it more accurately represents what you were doing for HR filters, since I don't really care about my title on a personal level.

grey-area 13y ago
Sounds fair to me. As long as you're not being deceptive about what the job actually entailed, and are trying to describe it more fully, I see no problem with switching job titles - they're just a descriptive label. Job titles in software development are mostly invented out of whole cloth anyway as it's such a young and dynamic profession, and many labels are borrowed from other professions solely to lend a patina of authority to the role - developers are not engineers or architects in my opinion except by analogy.

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

ChrisAntaki 13y ago

What if you actually are a Ninja?

efa 13y ago

I used to hate telling people I was a Web Developer. People would always say, "oh you build websites! I've done that some myself with Front Page!". Basically most of my career I've done traditional business applications. Just happens they have a web interface. So I always just say Software Developer.

troymc 13y ago

It bothers me that the word "designer" has been twisted by the web community to mean only non-engineering design (e.g. design of aesthetic appearance). All engineering students must take "design" classes where they learn to design things like bridges, electrical circuits, distribution systems, spacecraft, snowmobiles, software, or boilers. Is that not design?

a3voices 13y ago
Anything that the end user sees counts as "design". As such, electrical circuits and the internals of software don't really count. They're hidden from the user.
- troymc 13y ago
  Is this somehow the official definition or are you just being sarcastic?
  - a3voices 13y ago
    I don't think it's an official definition but it's how I interpret it, and probably how others do as well.
    - troymc 13y ago
      In my experience, it's only the web community who has this "look and feel" definition of design. An electrical engineer who designs an electrical circuit calls that process "circuit design." An aerospace engineer who designs a spacecraft trajectory calls that process "trajectory design." See the Wikipedia article on design: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Design https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Design You'll see that the web community is living in a language bubble.
- dagw 13y ago
  The difference between a well designed and badly designed circuit can make a huge difference in performance and longevity of product, which is definitely something the end user 'sees'.

nnq 13y ago

> Software Engineer / Programmer - This has come to mean "programming, but not for the web." ...whaaat?!

sologoub 13y ago

A Product Manager is absolutely not similar to a Project Manager. These are two completely different jobs and skill sets. While a common misconception, Product managers are charged with knowing the market/users/competition and driving the product to commercial success, as much as a development success. Project/program managers focus on specific delivery.

ssharp 13y ago
Like most other job titles involving the web, I think "Product Manager" can mean different things to different companies. Coming from the traditional marketing definition of the role, a product manager is typically the "CEO" of the product and is in charge of aligning the product with the market. In tech, particularly with smaller companies and startups, the need to wear many hats, and the unique issues with project management in relation to software development, has often times seen the product manager also take on project management duties. This may be a mistake or may be a requirement, depending on the resources of the company, but I largely agree with the structure of having both a product manager and a program manager and not blending the two.
- sologoub 13y ago
  Achieving commercial success often means managing delivery as well, but saying the two roles are equivalent is a mistake. Someone who is a true product manager, can usually pickup project management duties. The inverse is not true. I have seen many times someone with a project management background trying to get into product management without shifting the attitude or thinking the two are one and the same, only to drive developers nuts and fail to deliver good products.

cruise02 13y ago

> Dev Ops: I wish this had a more job-title-y feeling to it. As it stands it sounds like what you would call the whole team of people with this job. That is what we call a whole team of people at my company. Most of the people on the team have the title Build Engineer or Automation Engineer, along with a few System Administrators.

PhrosTT 13y ago

Do any job titles these days warrant the 'Web' prefix? So much software touches the web it's kind of pointless. I think you can tack on 'Front End' if you're good with JS, MV*, HTML/CSS.... and 'Back End' if you understand DB concepts & scalability or architecture stuff.

ryanSrich 13y ago
> 'Front End' if you're good with JS, MV*, HTML/CSS.... and 'Back End' if you understand DB concepts & scalability or architecture stuff It's been my experience as a front-end developer that you need to understand the entire stack. From the wireframes to the database. Perhaps this is a "full-stack" developer to some, but there's been an increase in the amount of "front-end developer" job postings that require you understand every aspect of the application. If the user will eventually see that data, then it's the responsibility of the front-end developer, this includes all information stored in the database and the ability to store, manipulate, and create that data.

patrickread 13y ago

Why is "Mobile _____" overly specific, but something like "JavaScript Developer" or "SEO Specialist" isn't? Responsive design/developing could definitely fall under "Front End Developer", but I feel like it's as focused a title as some of the other ones.