Are you confused by all the coding job titles out there?

Is a developer different to an engineer? Is a frontend developer a software engineer?

Don't worry, here's a thread to clear everything up for you

Before we jump into the actual titles it's worth noting that titles can mean different things at different companies.

Instead of title, focus on what the job spec says: your responsibilities, what you'll be working on and the stack you'll use.

Always confirm all of this information as soon as possible with someone that works for the hiring company, recruiters are often full of sh*t about this stuff, don't trust them.

As an example of how what the job is can vary so much with the same title, here are the 4 job titles I've had since I switched to JavaScript, with what I actually did in each one:

Senior Software Engineer: Building frontend of a website in React, a little Node.

UI Developer: Building a React Native app, with a little back end Node.

Software Consultant: Building the front end of a website in React, a little backend node.

Software Engineer: Full stack JavaScript. Building widgets in React for websites, a microservices architecture in node, leading a small team, dbs like mongo and big query, built an ETL pipeline

Software Developer vs Software Engineer

There is 0 difference between these, the terms are interchangeable.

Once upon a time we used to be called programmers. Then Developer became the cool job title, now Engineer is becoming the cool job title.

All these jobs == coding.

Engineer will be used interchangeably with developer for the rest of the thread.

Software engineer can refer to any type of coder, it's like the set of all coding jobs. Other titles are all a more specific type of engineer:

Frontend developer
Backend developer
Mobile Developer

Then you also have all the '<insert language here> developer' roles:

JavaScript Developer
Ios Developer
Python Developer

As you can guess, they mean you'll be using a specific language, but you'd need to see the spec to find out what you'd be doing with the language

In tech there are generally two tracks, but again this will vary wildly by company. Many companies have nothing for devs beyond a senior dev.

Management track: Your destination is people management, moving further away from actual coding.

Individual contributor track: You'll always be coding, but the scale of your technical leadership in the company will increase as you rise through the ranks.

Management track:

* Junior Developer
* Developer (or mid level)
* Senior Developer
* Lead Developer
* Development / Engineering manager
* VP of Engineering

Individual contributor track:

* Junior Developer
* Developer (or mid level)
* Senior Developer
* Staff Developer
* Principle Developer

If you liked this, I have a mailing list where I talk about coding and careers, with an emphasis on JavaScript: https://wellp.ai/list