Algorithm engineer is not a code farmer. Code farmers only need to be able to skillfully use the programming environment, master several programming languages, development frameworks and development libraries, and be good at writing codes. They are programmers with low professional level. Algorithm engineer is a relatively high-end post, with bachelor degree or above and high professional and technical requirements. He represents some engineers with strong material research ability, usually in the early stage of a product, to solve technical problems and provide some technical solutions, including the initial algorithm implementation of the solution, mainly responsible for data mining, content calculation related to machine learning, and a relatively high-end programmer group. Therefore, on the whole, algorithm engineer is not a code farmer.

In the early days of Internet development, development basically belonged to one scoop and one sink. Programmers do their own requirements, design, complete algorithms, test, go online and provide after-sales service. Later, with the deepening of the complexity of functions and business, there was a finer division of labor. In particular, the rise of big data and AI requires high algorithm and mathematical ability, which can be completed by non-ordinary software personnel. Therefore, algorithm engineer mainly focuses on logic model, and programmers mainly focus on implementation, but the two cannot be completely separated.

Programmers are the general term for people engaged in the IT industry. Anyone who writes a program can be called a programmer. There is no very strict category boundary, it is a group name. Algorithm engineer, who is mainly an engineer who designs algorithms, belongs to the programmer group. Algorithm engineer actually represents some engineers with strong data mining and computing skills. Generally, in the early stage of a product, he solves technical problems and provides some technical solutions, including the initial algorithm implementation of the solution, and is mainly responsible for data mining and related content in the field of machine learning.

China's algorithm engineer and R&D engineers are still very different in their job responsibilities, which is quite different from Silicon Valley's function distribution. In American Internet giants such as Google and Facebook, algorithm engineer had to write a lot of code.