Mohtalim

http://ask.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid= ... hreshold=3

Link is not obligatory. Just says that job prospects for "programmers" are looking down, but job prospects for "software engineers" are looking hot.

Is this a meaningful distinction to you? In my workplace I don't think I the "programmer" title exists. Everyone is either a design engineer, a software engineer, or an architect (or validation, blah blah). I could be wrong; I don't interact with groups that ship software as their output.

I think of "software engineering" and "programming" as difference disciplines, perhaps, or as different aspects of the discipline of getting code into the computer, but not as different jobs. Are they different jobs?

Studying software engineering for me so far has been fairly little actual coding. We've been studying software processes and what works ( and why it works better than what was typically done before). Right now, it's more management related than anything. Heck, right now, I'm getting a crash course in business strategy and how competitive analysis and market analysis are useful in guiding business strategy (and of course how they can lead your strategy wildly off in the wrong direction if the assumptions are wrong!). Along with these things we're taught more soft skill like ways to run more effective meetings and how to build teams that don't get stuck in a rut or worse, storming all the time.