What makes a senior developer?

[robjoel]

OK a bit of a duff question but it seems that everyone I work with is a
"senior" developer. Now I've been working with Java for over 5 years I
don't think that I would class myself as senior in the same way as I
looked up to developers when I began. So what are peoples thoughts on
this? If this is inappropriate forum for this discussion let me know
what an appropriate forum would be.

 

[Robert Klemme]

OK a bit of a duff question but it seems that everyone I work with is a
"senior" developer. Now I've been working with Java for over 5 years I
don't think that I would class myself as senior in the same way as I
looked up to developers when I began. So what are peoples thoughts on
this? If this is inappropriate forum for this discussion let me know
what an appropriate forum would be.

There might be better places to discuss this. My short answer would be
that it is highly context dependent. Somewhere it is just a label given
to people to justify a raise, some other place senior starts with 4
years and even other places with 10 programming languages mastered or 20
projects finished...

Cheers

robert

 

[adwords]

You're senior if you know more about Java, and have been developing
longer than at least two other people on your Java team.

Makes me think of the banks, where everyone is a Vice President.

Cheers!


-Cameron McKenzie
Author of the SCJA Certification Guide and What is WebSphere?


Certification Resources: www.examscam.com
Free WebSphere Tutorials: www.pulpjava.com
Free Mock Java Certification Exams: www.scja.com
Free J2EE and Java Multimedia Tutorials: www.mcnz.com

 

[=?ISO-8859-1?Q?Arne_Vajh=F8j?=]

OK a bit of a duff question but it seems that everyone I work with is a
"senior" developer. Now I've been working with Java for over 5 years I
don't think that I would class myself as senior in the same way as I
looked up to developers when I began. So what are peoples thoughts on
this?

Different places means different conventions.

I would define a senior developer as one that does not
need any supervision.

Arne

 

[Mike Schilling]

OK a bit of a duff question but it seems that everyone I work with is a
"senior" developer. Now I've been working with Java for over 5 years I
don't think that I would class myself as senior in the same way as I
looked up to developers when I began. So what are peoples thoughts on
this? If this is inappropriate forum for this discussion let me know
what an appropriate forum would be.

I'd define a senior developer as one who can build software that's
efficient, reliable, maintainable, and testable.

 

[Danno]

OK a bit of a duff question but it seems that everyone I work with is a
"senior" developer. Now I've been working with Java for over 5 years I
don't think that I would class myself as senior in the same way as I
looked up to developers when I began. So what are peoples thoughts on
this? If this is inappropriate forum for this discussion let me know
what an appropriate forum would be.

If you can't hold your pee while you code, you are a senior developer.

 

[Thomas Weidenfeller]

-Cameron McKenzie
Author of the SCJA Certification Guide and What is WebSphere?


Certification Resources: www.examscam.com
Free WebSphere Tutorials: www.pulpjava.com
Free Mock Java Certification Exams: www.scja.com
Free J2EE and Java Multimedia Tutorials: www.mcnz.com

Would the esteemed author please consider following common Usenet
netiquette?

a) Do not top-post. If you don't know what top-posting is, google for it.

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c) Don't use a signature (once you have one) larger than four lines of
72 characters (sans the signature separator).

Thank you for listening to this important security announcement.

/Thomas

PS: Bonus points for using a real Usenet reader instead of that Google junk.

 

[Jeffrey Schwab]

OK a bit of a duff question but it seems that everyone I work with is a
"senior" developer. Now I've been working with Java for over 5 years I
don't think that I would class myself as senior in the same way as I
looked up to developers when I began. So what are peoples thoughts on
this? If this is inappropriate forum for this discussion let me know
what an appropriate forum would be.

Maybe "senior" developers qualify for the discount Sunday-morning
breakfast at Bickford's.

 

[Chris Uppal]

I would define a senior developer as one that does not
need any supervision.

I'm inclined to agree that that's the critical distinction, although I would
go a bit further and say that the "senior" developer is the one who is capable
of providing said supervision.

Or who is /supposed/ to be capable...

-- chris

 

[Furious George]

OK a bit of a duff question but it seems that everyone I work with is a
"senior" developer. Now I've been working with Java for over 5 years I
don't think that I would class myself as senior in the same way as I
looked up to developers when I began. So what are peoples thoughts on
this? If this is inappropriate forum for this discussion let me know
what an appropriate forum would be.

This is a delicate question. But I think you are ready for it.

When a boy senior developer and a girl senior developer really like
each other, they express their love in a physical way. Sometimes this
results in the boy senior developer's sperm fertilizing the girl senior
developer's egg. This is what makes a senior developer.

 

[Court Jester]

Without sounding cynical a senior developer is someone who can
confidently write rubbish code.

 

[Patricia Shanahan]

There might be better places to discuss this. My short answer would be
that it is highly context dependent. Somewhere it is just a label given
to people to justify a raise, some other place senior starts with 4
years and even other places with 10 programming languages mastered or 20
projects finished...

"10 programming languages mastered or 20 projects finished..." seems an
excessively demanding requirement.

I don't qualify, and my job title was "senior programmer analyst" about
twenty-five years ago.

Patricia

 

[Furious George]

Without sounding cynical a senior developer is someone who can
confidently write rubbish code.

Cool! I qualify. Do I need a special card to get my discount at
Bickfords?

 

[Robert Klemme]

"10 programming languages mastered or 20 projects finished..." seems an
excessively demanding requirement.

I don't qualify, and my job title was "senior programmer analyst" about
twenty-five years ago.

Which exactly proves my point: there is no common agreed definition of
"senor developer".

Take care

robert

 

[Chris Smith]

Which exactly proves my point: there is no common agreed definition of
"senor developer".

I don't speak the language well, but my understanding is that "Senor
Developer" (assuming a tilde) roughly translates as "Mr. Developer"

(Okay, I know; bad joke...)

 

[Patricia Shanahan]

I don't speak the language well, but my understanding is that "Senor
Developer" (assuming a tilde) roughly translates as "Mr. Developer"

(Okay, I know; bad joke...)

I still don't qualify. :-(

Patricia

 

[Jeffrey Schwab]

I still don't qualify. :-(

Mademoiselle Developeur?

 

[Robert Klemme]

I still don't qualify. :-(

LOL

robert

 

[Stefan Ram]

What makes a senior developer?

Senior developers write their question into the body of their
message.

More seriously, "senior developer" is a title granted by the
employer. So, a senior developer is any individual, who has
been granted this title by its employer. This does not require
or indicate any occupational skill or professional
qualification, as the employer is free to grant this title as
he pleases.

 

[Ian Wilson]

Mademoiselle Developeur?

My French and Spanish is pretty poor but I imagine that Señora (or
Señorita) would be the gender-correct equivalent of Señor .

I usually think of PS as a seniorer developer anyway

(in that she seems more authoritative than most senior developers).