define proficiency and job titles

[AARGH]

how would you define a proficient C++ programmer?

-knowing / memorizing the entire language and being able to code without the use of references??

-knowing / memorizing software design methods along with c++ proficiency?

what are the c++ job titles and what do they mean;

-junior / entry level programmer knows just the basics of the language? if so is this what they call "code monkeys", that are given endless coding tasks in order for them to gain memorization / proficiency?

-software engineer has proficiency in the language and is able to work on his own?

-senior software lead / engineer has proficiency along with leadership skills and product vision?

[hanst99]

-knowing / memorizing the entire language and being able to code without the use of references??

I don't think a C++ programmer that doesn't use references is a C++ programmer, let alone a proficient one. And you don't really have to memorize ever little language feature as long as you know where to look if you need to.

what are the c++ job titles and what do they mean;

There aren't any that I'm aware of; at least no meaningful ones.

[andywestken]

The term code monkey doesn't mean junior program. Some quite elderly programmers end up doing mindless coding, which is what it's about. A good junior programmer position should not be like this.

The most common term I come across these days is developer. "Developer" is preferred to "programmer" as programming is just one step in the development lifecycle, and a software developer is supposed to understand requirement capture, analysis and design, implementation (that is, coding), testing, deployment, and documentation. (If I see a "programmer/analyst" job advertised, I assume the company is still living in the 70s!)

And a software engineer is supposed to be someone who does all that in a more rigorous way, following a real (i.e. non-agile) process. But I think the terms have blurred a bit over the years.

A competent developer will know a few languages well, plus a few ancillary scripting languages, know the core of their main language well, plus how to navigate their way around the documentation, plus the assorted tools and technologies (including the operating system(s) they work with, and the appropriate methodologies (inc. object-oriented design, in the C++ world).

I have come across "principal developer" for the level above senior developer.

Andy