noun
Etymology
Origin of programmer
Explanation
Someone who writes software or programs for computers is called a programmer. If you develop an application for mobile devices, you can also call yourself a programmer. Programmers use a variety of computer languages to write the code (or instructions) that helps computers do the things their users want them to do. There are programmers who specialize in specific languages which are useful in various industries — some are used by financial institutions and others by scientists, for example. Evidence of the dramatic way things change over time is clear from the shift in this word's meaning: in 1890, a programmer was an "event planner."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
I’m not a programmer but I created an application by asking the right questions and letting a chatbot code.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 31, 2026
A programmer asked the bot why it called itself a goblin.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 1, 2026
If you want to see VHS projected on the big screen, programmer and horror tape vendor Matt Landsman curates screenings at Video Archives Cinema Club, a microcinema inside the Vista Theatre in Los Feliz.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 23, 2026
"There are still some things we need to do to make it better," the Austrian programmer said.
From Barron's • Mar. 30, 2026
One programmer I know loves Disney animation; another calls himself a “hardware and sailing geek.”
From "Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet Out of Idaho" by Jon Katz
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
