The two professionals, Software architect and Software engineer, work in the same field, software. Even though they are in work in the same area their job profiles differ in numerous ways. Software engineers’ work includes the designing, coding and execution of the software for different tasks. Software architects do the design of overall development process of the software but their work doesn’t include coding.

Software Architect

The software architects are those professionals who articulate the architectural view of software. They should have strong knowledge in their organizations products and various technologies. They are responsible for structuring the development process of the software. A software architect may work in different platforms. They experiment the structure of different tasks using various architectural technologies and creates model of the software. Their work also includes preparation of documents and explaining the architectural views to the required clients. They work in teams with the developers to create software. To become a software architect a minimum qualification of bachelor’s degree in related subjects. In addition to these they must have thorough knowledge in any language platform they wish to work on. Most of these jobs require experience in the same field. The career opportunities are also at bright side for these professionals.

Software Engineer

Software engineers are the professionals who are responsible for the development of software using their knowledge in various software languages. These include the designing, coding and implementation. They need a strong basis in coding languages. They work in the application side of the software. Their duties include the development of high quality, maintainable and affordable solutions to different tasks as required by their clients. It is a systematic approach to the development of solutions and involves the analysis, design, evaluation, execution, testing, maintenance and modification of software. To get into these jobs one need a minimum qualification of bachelor’s degree in computer science. A deep knowledge in any of the coding languages, they wish to work on; will be more helpful for them to grasp their work.

Key differentiators between Software Architect and Software Engineer

• Software architects are the professionals who develop the overall structure of software whereas a software engineer does its coding and modifications.
• Software architects have to communicate with the clients to understand about their requirements whereas a software engineer only works for what an architect instructs them.

Although a software architect and software engineer work in the same area, the nature of work they do is quite different.