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The differences between principal test engineers and performance engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a principal test engineer and a performance engineer. Additionally, a principal test engineer has an average salary of $116,493, which is higher than the $101,647 average annual salary of a performance engineer.
The top three skills for a principal test engineer include python, C++ and java. The most important skills for a performance engineer are java, linux, and performance issues.
| Principal Test Engineer | Performance Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $116,493 | $101,647 |
| Hourly rate | $56.01 | $48.87 |
| Growth rate | 3% | 11% |
| Number of jobs | 96,539 | 95,652 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
Principal Test Engineers test automation tools and frameworks like Selenium, Appium, and Ranorex. They make sure that the software their companies offer is safe and reliable for consumer use. Being a principal test engineer requires testing to influence better software design, promoting good engineering practice, security, testability, scalability, drafting bug prevention strategies, and reliability. They are responsible for defining test goals, preparing and executing system-level functional tests, providing new project forecasts based on the provided information, and improving the current test solutions by reducing the test time, repeat tests, and yield analysis.
A Performance Engineer validates system stability and its performance by carrying out load tests. They analyze test outcomes and work diligently with different engineers and developers to deliver excellent bug fix results. These professionals improve system capacity, scalability, reliability, and performance by offering technical assistance. Besides undertaking root cause evaluation of the system's performance problems and giving corrective actions, a performance engineer also recommends system improvements after evaluating the system performance. Also, they oversee the performance lifecycle and then recommend the right improvements.
Principal test engineers and performance engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Principal Test Engineer | Performance Engineer | |
| Average salary | $116,493 | $101,647 |
| Salary range | Between $84,000 And $159,000 | Between $76,000 And $134,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Microsoft | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Start-up |
There are a few differences between a principal test engineer and a performance engineer in terms of educational background:
| Principal Test Engineer | Performance Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Computer Science |
| Most common college | California State University - Long Beach | Georgia Institute of Technology |
Here are the differences between principal test engineers' and performance engineers' demographics:
| Principal Test Engineer | Performance Engineer | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 89.8% Female, 10.2% | Male, 83.4% Female, 16.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 6.2% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 8.8% Asian, 12.0% White, 67.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% | Black or African American, 6.2% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 8.8% Asian, 12.0% White, 67.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |