Developer, programmer, analyst, what's the difference?

For those seeking a short answer, here it is: there is no difference between these terms. Or more precisely, there is NO LONGER any difference between all these names.

But why?

Historically, with the emergence of the first "programming" languages (Shortcode, Assembly, Fortran, Cobol,...) the terms "programmer" (male and female) appeared.

To program is a synonym for "to plan", "to foresee", and this is exactly the original meaning of this term, because writing code for a computer means anticipating its future functioning, and planning its behavior based on input data.

Originally, the term programmer therefore simply meant knowing how to write code for a machine.

The tasks performed by machines, originally rather mathematical, began to diversify and use cases started to become increasingly "high-level".

If the underlying mathematical calculations weren't any more complicated, the overall task, on the other hand, was much more abstract.

Example:

We no longer simply asked to program a calculation into the machine, but for example to: "find a solution to find the best arrangement for a classroom schedule at a school."

What is considered a better arrangement? Tighter time slots? Maximizing room usage? Optimizing the teachers' schedule?

Over time, it therefore became necessary to start analyzing the needs, requirements, and expectations of software precisely, and with a certain knowledge of the machine, the code, and the domain (business knowledge) in order to produce functional software.

We then began talking about analyst-programmers.

Then analyzing a project's needs and writing software were no longer enough. It had to be hosted, published on an app store, optimized, updated, made discoverable, accessible, understandable, even "viral" sometimes.

It was no longer just about writing software, but about developing a project, on a specific platform, with a precise target.

We now speak of developers (male and female).

In reality, we never even simply talk about a "developer" in the job market. We talk about web developer, software developer, mobile developer, fullstack, devops, and so on.

In conclusion

Originally, all these terms had a precise meaning, tied to their era, needs, and the job market. These terms still exist, but their differences have been erased and only the latest trendy term is used.

But for how much longer?