programmer

programmer

[′prō‚gram·ər]

(computer science)

A person who prepares sequences of instructions for a computer, without necessarily converting them into the detailed codes.

(control systems)

A device used to control the motion of a missile in accordance with a predetermined plan.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

programmer

(job)

(Or "computer programmer", "developer") Someone who writes or debugs computer programs, for a living or for fun. "Analyst/developer" is a common equivalent job title, implying the added role of system analysis. The term may be qualified according to the type of software - "application programmer", "system programmer", etc.

This article is provided by FOLDOC - Free Online Dictionary of Computing (foldoc.org)

programmer

(1) See PROM programmer.

(2) A person who designs the logic for and writes the lines of codes of a computer program. Programming is the heart and soul of developing computer applications, and programmers are the most misunderstood people in the business. They are constantly being criticized for taking longer to write a program than they initially estimated.

Why Such Bad Estimators?
Programmers are often terrible estimators of the time they need to write a new program. The more programs they write, the more confidence they often have in their capabilities. If a new project is not carefully planned, it can take inordinately longer than expected to complete, if ever. In addition, if users are not continuously updated and involved along the way, project timetables can wind up being extremely inaccurate.

Easy to Create a Hodgepodge
The more programmers involved in an application, the harder it is to fix it later. Programmers have their own style and logic, and there are many solutions to most problems. As more changes and fixes are made, a program can become unwieldy. Eventually, it is possible that nobody can bring it back into stability.

Novices or Masters?
It would seem that programming is a profession for bright, young whiz kids, and, in fact, there are tons of them creating and maintaining some of the most complex software in the world. The truth is all left-brained, intelligent people can write a program. However, it takes years to become an expert in anything. Masters in all professions have earned their stripes by making their mistakes over the course of 20, 30 even 40 years.

Nevertheless, the Programmer Is God!
In an IT department, programmers reign. A company can do without its IT managers and systems people for a while, but not its programmers. When any application has to be changed, programmers do it, nobody else. See developer, Freedman's law, programming language, application programmer, systems programmer, job descriptions, 10x coder and salary survey. See also to the recruiter.

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