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Web administrator vs software developer

The differences between web administrators 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 web administrator and a software developer. Additionally, a software developer has an average salary of $87,521, which is higher than the $76,146 average annual salary of a web administrator.

The top three skills for a web administrator include web application, wordpress and HTML. The most important skills for a software developer are java, python, and C++.

Web administrator vs software developer overview

Web AdministratorSoftware Developer
Yearly salary$76,146$87,521
Hourly rate$36.61$42.08
Growth rate5%21%
Number of jobs60,809294,329
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 66%Bachelor's Degree, 72%
Average age4439
Years of experience44

What does a web administrator do?

A website administrator is charged with a wide range of administrative tasks, including designing, developing, maintaining, and troubleshooting websites. They are also responsible for creating and updating content, implementing security protocols, creating backups, sorting out software issues, and much more. A university bachelor's degree in computer science is needed to have a successful career.

What does a software developer do?

A software developer is responsible for designing application systems to support the user and business' needs. Duties of a software developer include testing software codes, performing diagnostic programs and troubleshooting, interpreting system data and establishing efficient parameters, and ensuring the compatibility of the systems. A software developer must have an excellent knowledge of computer programs and programming languages to understand its complexities, especially on detecting system defects and malfunctions. A software developer must have strong attention to detail, communication, and decision-making skills to coordinate with the team and also work independently under minimal supervision.

Web administrator vs software developer salary

Web administrators and software developers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Web AdministratorSoftware Developer
Average salary$76,146$87,521
Salary rangeBetween $60,000 And $96,000Between $67,000 And $113,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CASan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateNevadaCalifornia
Best paying companyZoom Video CommunicationsThe Citadel
Best paying industryTechnologyFinance

Differences between web administrator and software developer education

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

Web AdministratorSoftware Developer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 66%Bachelor's Degree, 72%
Most common majorComputer ScienceComputer Science
Most common collegeStanford UniversityHarvard University

Web administrator vs software developer demographics

Here are the differences between web administrators' and software developers' demographics:

Web AdministratorSoftware Developer
Average age4439
Gender ratioMale, 63.1% Female, 36.9%Male, 79.3% Female, 20.7%
Race ratioBlack 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, 4.5% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 8.2% Asian, 29.9% White, 52.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage11%8%

Differences between web administrator and software developer duties and responsibilities

Web administrator example responsibilities.

  • Coordinate releases with dev project leads and release management teams.
  • Used DevOps techniques with Saltstack and Jenkins to automate site deployment, updates and upgrades.
  • Maintain internal tools for managing site structure, data, security, using CMS and Java.
  • Develop Perl and shell scripting to automate network device configuration, testing; automate UNIX host configurations.
  • Create and monitor multiple domains with multiple manage servers, machines, node manager and cluster environment.
  • Develop many JACL, Jython, scripts and shell scripts to automate the maintenance process of the WebSphere.
  • Show more

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.
  • Show more

Web administrator vs software developer skills

Common web administrator skills
  • Web Application, 11%
  • WordPress, 7%
  • HTML, 7%
  • CSS, 5%
  • JavaScript, 4%
  • SharePoint, 4%
Common software developer skills
  • Java, 11%
  • Python, 9%
  • C++, 7%
  • Software Development, 6%
  • JavaScript, 5%
  • Database, 5%

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