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The differences between scientific programmers and applications programmers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-8 years to become both a scientific programmer and an applications programmer. Additionally, an applications programmer has an average salary of $85,133, which is higher than the $83,969 average annual salary of a scientific programmer.
The top three skills for a scientific programmer include python, visualization and linux. The most important skills for an applications programmer are java, C++, and database.
| Scientific Programmer | Applications Programmer | |
| Yearly salary | $83,969 | $85,133 |
| Hourly rate | $40.37 | $40.93 |
| Growth rate | -7% | -7% |
| Number of jobs | 120,563 | 215,240 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 67% | Bachelor's Degree, 69% |
| Average age | 47 | 47 |
| Years of experience | 8 | 8 |
Scientific programmers are professionals who meet with scientists and researchers to determine and understand their program needs. By using their skills in scientific programming, these programmers must write programs from scratch or create by extensively customizing existing tools. They are required to work with senior programmers so that they can enhance their application development knowledge and skills. They must also assist in product testing with research students and collaborate with design engineers and production technicians when conducting system troubleshooting.
An application programmer is responsible for creating and designing computer systems and applications according to client specifications and business requirements. Application programmers run quality checks on the draft outputs to ensure its stability and efficiency for high-level performance. They also evaluate existing applications and recommend technical solutions to improve scalability. An application programmer must have excellent technical skills with a strong command of programming languages and system codes to determine the feasibility of applications and adjust features as needed.
Scientific programmers and applications programmers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Scientific Programmer | Applications Programmer | |
| Average salary | $83,969 | $85,133 |
| Salary range | Between $57,000 And $122,000 | Between $64,000 And $112,000 |
| Highest paying City | Newark, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | Washington |
| Best paying company | Tech Data | Dropbox |
| Best paying industry | Retail | Finance |
There are a few differences between a scientific programmer and an applications programmer in terms of educational background:
| Scientific Programmer | Applications Programmer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 67% | Bachelor's Degree, 69% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Here are the differences between scientific programmers' and applications programmers' demographics:
| Scientific Programmer | Applications Programmer | |
| Average age | 47 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 81.4% Female, 18.6% | Male, 74.6% Female, 25.4% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 4.9% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 8.7% Asian, 19.1% White, 62.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 4.9% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 8.6% Asian, 16.4% White, 65.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |