• Fmstrat@lemmy.world
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    3 days ago

    Are you a programmer if you program programming languages, or a program programming programmer?

    • brisk@aussie.zone
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      2 days ago

      This is the difference between Computer Science (a field of mathematics) and Software Engineering (a field of engineering).

      • Fmstrat@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        I think those are both the same things. Those with a Computer Science degree are typically Software Engineers.

        It’s more like a degree in Mathematics (future mathmetocian) vs a degree in Applied Mathematics (future statistician).

        • brisk@aussie.zone
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          1 day ago

          People with computer science degrees often work as software engineers but Computer Scientists are not Software Engineers. Computer Scientists are mathematicians. Theoretically you can do pretty good computer science without ever touching a computer - it’s the mathematics of computation, which is much broader than the machines we keep on our desks. Software Engineers are not typically mathematicians.

          I say this as someone who is qualified as a software engineer. I would absolutely love to be involved in computer science, but I’m trained for engineering not mathematics.

          • Fmstrat@lemmy.world
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            1 day ago

            Ahh “Scientists”, that’s a job title, not a field, so I think we are saying the same thing different ways. 😉

            Also a software engineer (aren’t we all, here? Hah), including algorithmic work to optimize the use of languages, but have never contributed to a language directly. But now, you may have ignited something. Hmmmmmm…