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I'm a little surprised to see such a differentiation between salaries for Software Engineers and Software Developers. I've always treated the two as synonyms.

by bcbrown 13y ago

sliverstorm 13y ago
The titles may be used interchangeably in casual speech a lot, but I'm told there was originally meant to be a real difference in scope/capacity/level of operation, so it doesn't surprise me.
NTDF9 13y ago
Exactly. I would appreciate someone explaining the difference between software developer and software engineer (and why this salary difference).
- rfnslyr 13y ago
  Software engineer designs logic. Software developer translates that into code? I don't know.
- grecy 13y ago
  My degree is called "Software Engineering", and is accredited by the Australia Institute of Engineers, of which I am a member. So, in Australia at least, A Software Engineer is a "real" Engineer.
  - a-priori 13y ago
    The same is true in Canada. You can't call yourself any kind of engineer, software or otherwise, unless you're a licensed and accredited engineer.
    - grecy 13y ago
      I'm in Canada these days, and my understanding is "Software" is not recognized as a kind of "Engineering" here, so I actually can't call myself and Engineer. Am I wrong on that?
  - ceras 13y ago
    This survey was in the US, though, where the term "software engineer" isn't regulated in any way. You can become one just by impressing someone with your Github profile: no other accreditation or experience necessary.
- pnathan 13y ago
  Some of it has to do with the seriousness of the work at hand. Some of it is just mental... "engineering" as opposed to "developing".
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
morgante 13y ago
I don't think there's actually a difference in the two titles themselves, but rather in the kind of company which uses each title. A software developer at a small startup is likely doing similar work to a software engineer at a large corporation, but the software engineer gets the BigCorp bonus.
- guiomie 13y ago
  They might do similar work, but I see software engineers as being accredited engineers, with that is a legal attachement to the title. Instead of startup vs bigcorp, I see it more like startup building some social phenomon that will be forgotten tomorrow as opposed to BigCorp coding airplanes systems.
  - TheCoelacanth 13y ago
    In the US (which this survey seems to have been limited to), that is rarely the case. Only Florida and Texas consider "Software Engineer" a protected title, and even in those states you are usually only restricted from using it if you are offering engineering services. In most of the country, a "Software Engineer" could just as easily be working on a social networking website as on embedded software for an airplane. It is extremely common to use the title "Software Engineer" for people who are not actually doing engineering.
  - morgante 13y ago
    > They might do similar work, but I see software engineers as being accredited engineers, with that is a legal attachement to the title. My job title is "software engineer" and I don't have any accreditation to speak of. Such is the case with the vast majority of people with this title.

I'm a little surprised to see such a differentiation between salaries for Software Engineers and Software Developers. I've always treated the two as synonyms.

by bcbrown 13y ago

I'm a little surprised to see such a differentiation between salaries for Software Engineers and Software Developers. I've always treated the two as synonyms.

sliverstorm 13y ago

The titles may be used interchangeably in casual speech a lot, but I'm told there was originally meant to be a real difference in scope/capacity/level of operation, so it doesn't surprise me.

NTDF9 13y ago

Exactly. I would appreciate someone explaining the difference between software developer and software engineer (and why this salary difference).

rfnslyr 13y ago
Software engineer designs logic. Software developer translates that into code? I don't know.
grecy 13y ago
My degree is called "Software Engineering", and is accredited by the Australia Institute of Engineers, of which I am a member. So, in Australia at least, A Software Engineer is a "real" Engineer.
- a-priori 13y ago
  The same is true in Canada. You can't call yourself any kind of engineer, software or otherwise, unless you're a licensed and accredited engineer.
  - grecy 13y ago
    I'm in Canada these days, and my understanding is "Software" is not recognized as a kind of "Engineering" here, so I actually can't call myself and Engineer. Am I wrong on that?
- ceras 13y ago
  This survey was in the US, though, where the term "software engineer" isn't regulated in any way. You can become one just by impressing someone with your Github profile: no other accreditation or experience necessary.
pnathan 13y ago
Some of it has to do with the seriousness of the work at hand. Some of it is just mental... "engineering" as opposed to "developing".
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]

morgante 13y ago

I don't think there's actually a difference in the two titles themselves, but rather in the kind of company which uses each title. A software developer at a small startup is likely doing similar work to a software engineer at a large corporation, but the software engineer gets the BigCorp bonus.

guiomie 13y ago
They might do similar work, but I see software engineers as being accredited engineers, with that is a legal attachement to the title. Instead of startup vs bigcorp, I see it more like startup building some social phenomon that will be forgotten tomorrow as opposed to BigCorp coding airplanes systems.
- TheCoelacanth 13y ago
  In the US (which this survey seems to have been limited to), that is rarely the case. Only Florida and Texas consider "Software Engineer" a protected title, and even in those states you are usually only restricted from using it if you are offering engineering services. In most of the country, a "Software Engineer" could just as easily be working on a social networking website as on embedded software for an airplane. It is extremely common to use the title "Software Engineer" for people who are not actually doing engineering.
- morgante 13y ago
  > They might do similar work, but I see software engineers as being accredited engineers, with that is a legal attachement to the title. My job title is "software engineer" and I don't have any accreditation to speak of. Such is the case with the vast majority of people with this title.