Software writer vs software developer

The differences between software writers and software developers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a software writer and a software developer. Additionally, a software developer has an average salary of $87,521, which is higher than the $82,036 average annual salary of a software writer.

The top three skills for a software writer include HTML, release notes and API. The most important skills for a software developer are java, python, and C++.

Software writer vs software developer overview

	Software Writer	Software Developer
Yearly salary	$82,036	$87,521
Hourly rate	$39.44	$42.08
Growth rate	21%	21%
Number of jobs	218,948	294,329
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 75%	Bachelor's Degree, 72%
Average age	39	39
Years of experience	4	4

Software writer vs software developer salary

Software writers and software developers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Software Writer	Software Developer
Average salary	$82,036	$87,521
Salary range	Between $49,000 And $134,000	Between $67,000 And $113,000
Highest paying City	-	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	-	California
Best paying company	-	The Citadel
Best paying industry	-	Finance

Differences between software writer and software developer education

There are a few differences between a software writer and a software developer in terms of educational background:

	Software Writer	Software Developer
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 75%	Bachelor's Degree, 72%
Most common major	Computer Science	Computer Science
Most common college	University of Southern California	Harvard University

Software writer vs software developer demographics

Here are the differences between software writers' and software developers' demographics:

	Software Writer	Software Developer
Average age	39	39
Gender ratio	Male, 60.6% Female, 39.4%	Male, 79.3% Female, 20.7%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 2.9% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 6.4% Asian, 31.3% White, 55.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%	Black or African American, 4.5% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 8.2% Asian, 29.9% White, 52.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	8%	8%

Differences between software writer and software developer duties and responsibilities

Software writer example responsibilities.

Contribute to implementing microservices used to manage entities and maintain a synchronize state between supplier and distributor.
Convert legacy FrameMaker files into RoboHTML, and work with team to develop an online help system.
Used FrameMaker for all print documentation and produce project documentation on the companies internal website.
Perform configuration management and administer SourceSafe database.
Investigate and resolves production and UAT issues.
Perform configuration management and administer SourceSafe database.

Software developer example responsibilities.

Restructure the project code in repository and use maven to manage project dependencies.
Used JIRA to manage and track the issues report by QA and prioritize and take action base on the severity.
Develop the front-end web page by using HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript, taking advantage of the frameworks Angular.JS.
Lead team and develop UNIX administrative and maintenance development tasks, supporting customer requirements.
Configure custom PL/SQL database to manage new database objects including triggers, user-define functions and store procedures.
Implement a centralize configuration system for managing application settings, consisting of a desktop application with a WCF backend.

Software writer vs software developer skills

Common software writer skills

HTML, 39%
Release Notes, 32%
API, 15%
Windows, 14%

Common software developer skills

Java, 11%
Python, 9%
C++, 7%
Software Development, 6%
JavaScript, 5%
Database, 5%