The Difference Between a Programmer, a Hacker, and a Developer | Hacker News Reader

The Difference Between a Programmer, a Hacker, and a Developer

danielmiessler.com

2 pointsdanielrm263 comments

The diagram is completely different from what the text says. Specifically, the text says:

   "People can be any combination of these."

And yet the Euler diagram[0] shows no intersection between "Hackers" and "Developers", and it's claimed that all "Hackers" and "Developers" must also be "Programmers."

    When code and comments disagree,
        both are probably wrong. 
        -- Norm Schryer[1]

In short, while there may be elements of truth, I think the whole article is ill-thought through.

[0] It's not a Venn diagram, because not all intersections are present: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euler_diagram

[1] http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Norm_Schryer

Good points.

The main point (which I think was still conveyed) was to show that hackers and developers were programmers, but not necessarily the same.

Then you need at least to have some overlap between the "hackers" and "developers" areas. And there are hackers who aren't programmers. And there are developers who aren't programmers.

And are the programmers who are neither hackers nor developers?

Or perhaps you are only considering the world of programmers. It's really not clear.

I say all this as a mathematician who occasionally hacks, occasionally takes on the role of "developer," and while I believe that there is space for an article that makes the differences and commonalities clear, I don't think this is it. It feels like you have truth to convey, but this article doesn't do it.

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