When I was growing up, Software Engineer and Programmer seems same term to me. Now after working a couple of years as a Software Engineer I think I can distinguish between the two terms. Programming is a small part of Software Engineering. Software Engineering include Understanding Requirement Designing Software Organising code Testing Software Collaborating with other software engineers Writing good code is essential skill for being a Good software engineer but you can not neglect others skills as they are equally important for building good product. I read something similar in Software Engineering subject during my graduation, but none of the above make sense than. I think reading about software engineering is not the great way to learn about it instead build a lots of software and you will get a grasp of software engineering. What text books do not tell you about Software Engineering is : Understanding Requirement: