programmer
Americannoun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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.
See Examples For:
In February 2024, three months into Stupnikov’s front-line service, Tatiana wrote to Dmytro Karpenko, a computer programmer working closely with Ukrainian military intelligence.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
Mr. Dudamel, it turns out, is a sly programmer.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
Among the examples cited by the task force was the case of French programmer Sammy Azdoufal, who reportedly accessed data from thousands of robotic vacuum cleaners made by Chinese manufacturer DJI.
From Barron's ● Jul. 28, 2026
In 2012, a French programmer called Stéphane Gigandet launched a free, online and crowdsourced food product database called Open Food Facts during the Food Revolution Day organised by English chef Jamie Oliver.
From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026
My plan, insofar as I had one, was to go to university to be a computer programmer, but we couldn’t afford the tuition.
From "Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood" by Trevor Noah
"And if AI can't really do everything, then the supply of programmers might not be enough to make good stuff."
From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026
They also said that podcasts, gaming and partnerships with programmers like TF1, a French television network, could bring in more ad revenue and keep people watching longer.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 29, 2026
Yet, the festival’s programmers seem to be decentralizing their attention-hogging neighbors to the south.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2026
Meanwhile some of China's buzziest AI companies are raising fees as their open-source offerings gain traction among businesses and programmers worldwide.
From Barron's ● Aug. 10, 2026
TRW desperately needed programmers familiar with the particular software the power station used.
From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
