Are Programmers Scientists? (Let’s find out)

People often put programmers and scientists in the same category, and they sometimes assume that they do the same job.

They believe that since they all use a computer to carry out their work, then they all do the same thing.  

This is not true. It is a misconception that needs to be clarified. 

The misconception that programmers are scientists did not spring out of the blues.

It came about from the fact that people see both programmers and scientists work countless hours on their computers. 

Computer scientists are specialists that are good with the theoretical aspect of computer science. They develop the theories that are being studied in schools.

Programmers, on the other hand, work based on these theories as they form the foundation of which the programming languages that programmers use in coding. 

This shows that although programming and computer science are different, they still work together. 

People who are not familiar with both fields or newbies in the field tend to mix both professions.

To understand that programmers are not scientists, we must first know what both professions are about. 

Who is a Scientist?

A scientist is someone who is knowledgeable in the field of science, gathers data, and carries out information to know more in his area of specialization.

Scientists gather data and process them into knowledgeable information that will aid the progress of the field.

Scientists are not only limited to the science and technology aspect. They are required in other fields.

Scientists use scientific methods to arrive at a theory in their field.

They do so by observing, asking questions, gathering information, creating a hypothesis, making predictions, testing the hypothesis, analyzing data, and then making a conclusion.

A computer scientist is more like an academician who studied a bit of mathematics, research algorithm, data structures, and the like.

Who is a Programmer

A programmer, on the other hand, is someone who writes computer programs.

They create applications and computer software passing specific instructions to the computer using different languages. 

Programming is a more practical aspect. It deals with the process of writing codes, designing, testing, debugging, and maintaining the code source of a computer program. 

Computer programming and Computer science are related, but they are two different fields.

However, they may depend on each other for each profession to function properly. 

3 Reasons Programmers Are Not Scientists 

Now that we know who programmers and scientists are, here are three reasons why programmers cannot be scientists. 

Programming can be learned without obtaining a degree

There are a lot of programmers in the world.

A survey carried out by Zippia has shown that over 315,268 out of the 332,403,650 people in the United States of America are programmers.

This means that about 10% of the population in the USA is into computer programming. 

Among these programmers, only a few got a degree from a university.

Many of them learned programming on their own and from online sites like YouTube and Udemy. 

Employers do not need a formal certificate when recruiting because programming is practical and all about the experience you have gathered.

Employers prefer to look at past jobs and portfolios and consider the number of a programmer’s years of experience. 

On the other hand, computer scientists need a formal certificate to prove that they are genuinely what they claim to be.

Most computer scientists could call themselves this title because they have undergone several trainings in institutions, carried out research, and have at least written a thesis. 

Programming does not require a lot of mathematical knowledge

Programming is more practical than computer science.

You do not need to have a vast knowledge of mathematics and calculus to program.

However, with computer science, you need to learn and make use of mathematical knowledge.

You do not have to be good at math to be a good programmer.

You only need to have an understanding of the fundamentals and the logic behind programming and the languages involved in coding.

You can check out our article “Do Programmers Need to be Math Experts?” to know the level of math and calculations that you need to be a programmer.

Programming does not require research

The main thing that differentiates a programmer and a computer scientist is that programmers do not carry out research as computer scientists do.

Programmers only need to write codes, debug, and create computer programs using the programming languages that are based on the theories that computer scientists have arrived at by carrying out research.

Can Scientists Program?

Computer scientists, if exposed to what programming entails, will be able to understand programming and should be able to code since they create the theories that coding languages are based on.

However, they might not be as good as a professional programmer since they will lack experience.

Anyone can write codes as long as they learn how to, but with a computer science job, you need to have studied the course and have the ability to carry out research, reach a conclusion, and form a theory. 

This means that programmers cannot be computer scientists except if they go to study computer science.

Conclusion

A programmer is not a scientist as the scope of a programming job is quite from that of a computer scientist. 

Although programming and computer science are related, they are two different things. 

Computer scientists spend their time developing and expanding research with the theoretical knowledge they have gained, while programmers spend their own time solving the problems that were developed with the underlying principles of scientific theories by using coding languages.

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Happy Coding!