What Is the Difference Between a Software Developer and a Software Engineer?

A career as a software engineer or software developer can be both exciting and rewarding. While the jobs are similar, the skills and interests that make them suitable for the roles vary greatly.

Software developers design specific computer systems and application software. Software engineers work on a larger scale to design, develop, and test entire computer systems and application software for a company or organization—software development is a subset of software engineering.

Understanding Each Role in the Workplace

Software engineers tend to be in more collaborative roles in the workplace, while software developers may find themselves working in a more independent environment. Either of these careers may take place in an office workplace or remotely. People in these roles may work as company employees or independent contractors.

A software engineer may work with many different people on a team, including other engineers and developers. Individuals working in this role may also work with users to determine software needs.

Software developers work with other developers and programmers on a limited basis. A lot of a developer's work involves working with applications or operating systems more than other people.

Both roles are critical to the infrastructure of a company and their work affects the performance of software systems, applications, and network systems.

Discover the Skill Set Differences

There are a lot of crossovers when looking at the skill sets of software developers compared to software engineers since both jobs involve creating and developing systems and applications. Software developers and software engineers should be analytical, strong problem solvers, able to troubleshoot, and be good communicators. However, some differences are important to note if you’re trying to decide which career path is best for you.

Learn the skills of a software developer

•Proficiency in popular programming languages like Python, Java, C++, and Scala

•Ability to write and test code

•Creativity

•Ability to look at the big picture and small steps along the way

•Presentation skills

•Familiarity with cross-browser compatibility

•Proficient in developing responsive web designs

•Ability to work on front-end application development

•Knowledge of algorithms and data structures

•Time management skills

Learn the skills of a software engineer

•Extensive knowledge of a wide range of programming languages

•Proficient in software development and computer operating systems

•Proficient in advanced mathematics

•Ability to apply engineering principles to software creation

•Leadership skills

•Ability to debug software and systems

•Ability to create scalable domain-specific pipelines and languages

•Ability to create the tools needed to develop software

•Project management skills

Explore the differences in career paths

The main difference in career paths for software engineers compared to those of software developers is that software developers tend to have more flexibility and variety. Software developers may also be able to work remotely or in a freelance position easier than a software engineer. Career paths for software engineers could result in overseeing a team of people within a company and requiring more teamwork than software development positions.

Software developers can choose a few different trajectories that aren’t as linear as engineers. Developers who want to work in a managerial position may get started as a junior developer before becoming a senior software developer.

Developers who don’t want to manage others may stay in this role and pursue a specific type of development like front-end, back-end, full-stack, or mobile development.

If you’re interested in management positions, you can choose to pursue a career as a lead developer or technical architect or information technology (IT) systems architect who creates, maintains, and implements IT systems for a business. If following this path, the next step could likely be as a development team lead or software development manager, and finally director, vice president, or chief technology officer.

Opportunities for software engineers—what and when

Up to three years—software engineers just entering the profession might spend up to three years building, launching, and debugging systems or applications as entry-level software engineers.

Three to five years—the next step is senior software engineer, where you might branch out into overseeing other engineers.

Six to nine years—from here, you may want to move into a tech lead position, which requires between six and nine years of experience. This is a managerial role, so you’ll likely have a team of people to manage.

13+ years—at this point, as an engineering manager or VP of engineering you may have ownership over processes or products. Individuals in these roles usually have upwards of 13+ years of experience in the industry. They can potentially have the opportunity to become a chief technology officer (CTO)—the highest technology executive position in a company. These individuals are in charge of an organization's research and development (R&D) and oversee an entire organization’s technological needs.

Pursuing Certification or Degrees

As of 2022, 73 percent of software engineers and software developers working in the US have earned a bachelor’s degree, and 20 percent have a master’s degree.

An associate degree in industrial IT or computer science can provide access to some entry-level jobs, but a bachelor's degree is often the standard minimum education requirement for software engineers. Earning a master’s degree allows you to pursue research, management, and information security careers.

For software developers, most employers may require a degree in software development or other areas such as computer science, computer programming, and related disciplines. As with software engineering, a master’s degree in software development might improve your chances of pursuing management positions.

Pursuing certifications is an effective way for working professionals to expand their knowledge base. Many software development and engineering careers even require certifications before working with certain software projects. These certifications provide verification that you know enough about the software to work with it.

Common certifications offered to software engineers and software developers are:

•Oracle

•Microsoft

•IBM

•Cloud computing

•Cybersecurity

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