In this post, I ponder exactly what it is we do - is it programming or engineering? Are we grunt coders or sophisticated program architects? Both? Neither?
This topic comes up once in a while when statistical programmers embark on large projects. I've seen these large projects work - and sometimes not work. The difference, I think, is when the staff involved start to see themselves not as simple stat programmers - but as system developers.
I took some software engineering courses in the mid-1990s at a local university, and I was exposed to formal software development for the first time. It was quite eye-opening for me.
In my opinion, typical stat programming is NOT software development; however, there are occasions when
we are called on to more system-type work. I think an interesting article or presentation for us would be something to explore these two different roles we can take.
Any comments from readers?
Do you think of yourself as a programmer, or more like a system developer? (albeit, working in SAS, R, etc)