Some programmers are software engineers. They solve problems, sometimes problems with great ambiguity or non-straightforward solutions.

And some programmers are… code technicians? They understand and write code, but their job seldom involves problem solving. Often times, they’re asked to code an already solved problem, or mostly solved.

This is not a diss. I was in the second camp for a while. But it hurts your career to stay in that. So be careful.