web developer 0r software programmer

[reibac]

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hey guys,

Â* Â* which is better, a software programmer or a web developer?

[dark_humbz]

its better, no... not better but best... its best if you are both...

[cebugdev]

software developer ofcourse. naa ang challenge dra, from ordinary data-driven software to network to graphics and game development including mobile development, driver development ug ang pinaka cool sa tanan kernel development. wait murag malingaw ko sa games development
hehehe
blib ko aning isa nako ka kauban..tsk maayu kaayu ug device driver linux pa jd!

[chronnus]

Depends what you mean by "better". If you are looking for a real challenge (and if hardcore logic problems turn you on, heheh) software development is the way to go. Frankly though you really can't go wrong with either choices so long as you focus your efforts on mastering one first instead of taking on both at the same time.

IMHO web development is damn exciting right now with "Web 2.0" in full swing and plenty of startups coming out with innovative solutions for just about anything. Social collaboration, desktop apps being converted into web apps, syndication and the like, are fueling the web's evolution and it feels great to be able to participate in it.

[vern]

... then again software developers who are good at their job make a lot more money than web developers.

[chronnus]

true, true, we need a definition of what "better" is to him.

[vern]

heh, money = better.

Whats even better is database administration.

[DAVINCI]

hey guys,

which is better, a software programmer or a web developer?

Some people think that there isn’t much difference in programming and they are absolutely right to some extent, because you just have to develop a computer based system which will serve for some specific purpose. I am totally agreed at this point.

But when you move towards the Application Programming or web programming discussion then a web programmer really seems to be a victim, no one tries to understand their working domain, Clients expect that as soon as the graphics designing completed they are now ready to trade (in case of e-commerce websites), or ready to use the system. While in fact a totally new story begins here.

At this point let me explain some major difference between the web and application development trends, psychology and nature.

Let’s consider application development first, when you go for application development you just have to agree on some certain requirements and those are most like to stay same even a year after development, you are going to develop a system which is for specific requirement and for specific time period (even 5-10 years is specific!) in order to do this you can use different built-in controls to satisfy your client. Then you can use number of third party controls for different purposes furthermore you have full control on your development, you only show the working system, no concern with source code.

Now on other hand, web development is always a never-expiring thing. If you are using something in your code, you should keep in mind that in future enhancement which could be in near or far future, you have to keep in mind that for each and every requirement and enhancement, the client expect only one answer and that is YES!. Think yourself when you are doing a something which you know have no fixed limit of requirements…. then what can you do? how much perfection you can bring in?

I would like to give you an example to leave it up to you to decide how you compare it.

Let say you have a shop you can get some POS (Point Of Sale) today, tomorrow you are converted into a distributor role, you need a totally separate software, again your business grows and you became something else, say you are manufacturer. In this period your name, logo location brand is same and you are just changing your application, on other hand you cannot afford to have new website every time you grow in business, you cannot change website’s structure to avoid losing your search engine ranking. In my example it’s quite simple and clear to understand difference between application and web.

Let’s consider another one, what if you have a home and if you don’t like it or have spent 10 years in it you will feel it is old fashioned and you can buy a new one but what if you have a 100 story plaza, by the passage of time you are building more stories in it and do you think even in 20 years time you will consider to rebuild it from scratch just because it is old fashioned, certainly not you will just keep adding on new things in it and improvements then can you predict what improvements you want to have in it? I think not. Similarly think of application as a home and web as plaza and you will realize that web developer have to taker everything in account. even those possibilities which you cannot imagine! They have to think that what modification will come, at what stage and how they will fit into the database.

I myself think a web develop as a builder with the same bricks and mortar, every time building new home. While an application developer is fast, up to date highly qualified engineer in this field, even then it’s proven that web developers are successfully taking their industry ahead of application development.

Summarizing my discussion I would like to say that web development is not as easy or simple as people think. And application development is not as difficult or hard as people believe. Being in both roles I can better understand the responsibilities and difficulties on both development sides and my article represent conclusion of my understanding. The purpose of the article is not to defend web developers but to highlight the key difference between web and application technologies.

regards, :mrgreen:

[reibac]

Thanks for that,

Nowadays i am obsessed in web development, and self-study helps me (since i'm not enrolled this year). I am a bit confused if i'll be in CS or IT next year. And i don't know my capability either.

Any advice?

[rvyne]

I am a web developer programmer.. but i like software engineer / programmer more..

yha its true software developer earning a lot of money than us