What is a Software Engineer?

This is not an easy question to answer. The reason this is a difficult question is because many people have conflicting ideas of what constitutes software and what constitutes engineering.

• A few definitions are in order:
• Software is: the entire set of programs, procedures, and related documentation associated with a computer system.
• Engineer is: a person who carries through an enterprise by skillful contrivance. A person or thing which lays out, or plans out, or constructs a plan.
• Coder is: a person or thing which takes a plan and puts that plan into the form or symbols of code.

So when I say that I am a Software Engineer (S.E.) what I am saying is that I am, one who lays out or plans out or constructs a plan for the construction of computer software. I am also in some cases the Coder, the individual that creates or translates the plan into a 'language' that can be executed by the computer.

Historically Software Engineers have been called Programmer Analysts, Programmers, and or Coders. Perhaps in the early days Programmers primarily produced "code", but today the role of the Software Engineer has been broadened. Software Engineers plan the construction of computer programs, just as any other systematic discipline plans it's tasks. An important thing to note is that planning software is just as important (if not more important) as producing the "code".

As a final note it is important to know that there are many sub-disciplines within the field of Software Engineering. In general one can divide S.E.s into Business, Scientific and Academic S.E.s. Within each of the broad categories one can divide between Systems and Application S.E.s. So all that said, to be more precise I am a Business Applications S.E..

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