All these job titles don't really have a formal definition. Software engineer = programmer = software developer. Computer scientist sure does sound fancy though. There's no committee that will say "actually you're doing too much math to be a developer sorry." We all do the code-y thing. Businesses seem to pick one at random based on seniority. I just call myself whatever my most recent job title was.

Your industry will affect your specialisation and skills much more than anything else.

- Software Engineer (Maths)

[–] Tja@programming.dev 1 points 1 hour ago

I don't even go that's far. I "work in IT". Enough for 99% of social interactions / official forms.

[–] baggachipz@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 hours ago

You’re taking my comment a little too seriously. I just know that what I do is essentially playing with other people’s legos, to make a CRUD app, to show my industry’s equivalent of cat pictures. I leave the heavy math and theory to the real computer scientists.

[–] surewhynotlem@lemmy.world 15 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

Scientists research. Engineers do. We are the more practical of the two.

[–] Omgpwnies@lemmy.world 11 points 14 hours ago (2 children)

Also, any CompSci grad I've worked with couldn't write code for shit unless they learned how outside of their schooling, and yet so many go the CompSci -> programmer route instead of doing like SW Eng or something like that.

[–] Kazumara@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 4 hours ago

any CompSci grad I’ve worked with couldn’t write code for shit

Damn, that sounds pretty bad.

We had tons of math and theoretical work too, but we also programmed a fair amount: We had to write a renderer in one class, a compiler in another, various Android apps in a third, and in one elective I took we wrote a micro kernel OS as well.

[–] gankouskhan@bookwyr.me 2 points 7 hours ago

It's not like the CS program is devoid of programming, norb would I say the SWE students are that much better off without outside education. CS is about half theory half practical for core education at least. The difference is you learn why and how which is more beneficial long term. After the first 6 months on the job the difference between the two on programming ability should be about the same with some more optimal solutions found by the CS student if any difference. It's a pretty short term problem.