Putting aside the security aspect, I think that the terms hacker and programmer as still disparate. They're separated by structure. If you still through and d

Putting aside the security aspect, I think that the terms hacker and programmer as still disparate. They're separated by structure. If you still through and design something you're programming - putting a fair amount of thought and structure in it before you hit the editor. Just coding and coding is probably closer to hacking to me - it's a messy art but capable of brilliance. On the security side of things there seems to be a split between 'white hat' security professionals which includes a few blowhards by all accounts, and 'black hats' who have changed from just mischief to working for nefarious types for money. Supposedly there are still quite a few 'grey hats' who are just about playing around and finding out interesting new things while ignoring the black and white side of things.