My title is actually "Senior Programmer/Analyst". But, I think your observation is correct that it's not as common to have a title like mine anymore.
It's strictly due the historical development of our field. Computer systems were limited to large organizations in the early days. VMS, Unix, Windows, and less expensive hardware allowed smaller, less well-funded organizations to jump into the game.
In internal IT departments, software developers have become the "jack-of-all trades, master of none" people. We fulfill analyst, developer, operations person, and support with little to no training in any area. IMO, part of the reason software systems are so fragile nowadays is this "generalist" mentality. Mind you there are plenty of other factors that are, IMO, mostly social.
All that said, there is a tendency to think of software development like assembly line manufacturing. There was a Dyson vacuum ad that I loved. The supposed owner of the company showed the vacuum in operation and then talked
about the 239 (not sure of the exact number) versions that came before it. Once the company got it right on the 240th model, mass-assembling the vacuums was quick. Building a model, letting users work with it, integrating their feedback into a new model, this embodies software development. And it's expensive along at least one of two dimensions: money or time.
It's strictly due the historical development of our field. Computer systems were limited to large organizations in the early days. VMS, Unix, Windows, and less expensive hardware allowed smaller, less well-funded organizations to jump into the game.
In internal IT departments, software developers have become the "jack-of-all trades, master of none" people. We fulfill analyst, developer, operations person, and support with little to no training in any area. IMO, part of the reason software systems are so fragile nowadays is this "generalist" mentality. Mind you there are plenty of other factors that are, IMO, mostly social.
All that said, there is a tendency to think of software development like assembly line manufacturing. There was a Dyson vacuum ad that I loved. The supposed owner of the company showed the vacuum in operation and then talked about the 239 (not sure of the exact number) versions that came before it. Once the company got it right on the 240th model, mass-assembling the vacuums was quick. Building a model, letting users work with it, integrating their feedback into a new model, this embodies software development. And it's expensive along at least one of two dimensions: money or time.
(Edit: 240 to 239)