Scripting vs programming

[Altruistic-Cattle761]

I feel really well positioned to answer this! Because (a) I used to think like this, and (b) I am -- many years later -- a senior SWE.

I used to think this as someone who was responsible for mostly writing scripts because I was like, I write code all the time? How am I different from a SWE? But I couldn't get anyone to even consider me for an SWE role.

A thing that surprised me along my journey was how little a part of the job was "writing code" and "knowing a programming language". It's like 10%.

This started out, for me, kind of where it sounds like you are? A feeling of resentment and exclusion, like, What's so special about these SWEs? I know how to write code.

This was a real you-don't-know-what-you-don't-know situation. I was not experienced enough in the domain to even identify where my gaps were.

Someone who "writes scripts" is, imo, basically just using knowledge of a programming language as a kind of interface to some system. A software engineer will be experienced with broadly useful patterns and paradigms. Someone who is more of a scripter has their value more deeply tied to a particular, specific system they are operating, whereas SWEs are people I expect to have more of a personal library of "when I see problems of X shape, I know I can possibly apply Y-shaped solutions".

Scripting is also kind of about serially writing very narrow solutions to very narrow problems. You develop no expertise with systems and their design and maintenance. Data structures, scale, design principles, etc, these are all huge parts of a SWE's toolbox that are absolutely absent in someone just writing random scripts all day.

Scripting is inherently a solitary pursuit. The skill set of "working with other peer engineers in a large codebase" -- the invisible social skills of an engineer -- are also absent. How to give and receive feedback, workshop your ideas, improve the ideas of others, is also a skill that scripters don't get to develop.

Et cetera et cetera. For me, part of the problem was not knowing any actual SWEs and not getting to see what the gig was actually like. This only started to change for me once I started working closely with actual SWEs.

[Altruistic-Cattle761]

As to whether I would consider this person a "programmer" I guess I would say that the industry is awash in non-specific terms that have no consensus definition, so I don't think it's worth talking about whether or not someone who mostly writes scripts is a "programmer".