Brogramming

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What Does Brogramming Mean?

Brogramming is an internet slang term used to refer to computer code produced by “bros” – slang for male friends, particularly fraternity brothers – who are programmers. Apparently, this internet meme kicked off in summer 2011 with some threads on Quora.com, a question-and-answer website. Brogramming is also linked to Facebook, where the developers are said to have developed a brogramming culture.

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Techopedia Explains Brogramming

According to the official Facebook page for brogramming – which was created by Nick Schrock, a Facebook engineer – brogrammers “rage on PHP, rage in the gym and rage at the club.” In addition, programmer Miles Lothe is credited for translating Facebook’s terms of service into “bro-speak.”

Quora.com also provides several key attributes of typical brogrammers, including:

  • Sunglasses, particularly the mirrored, aviator variety
  • The consumption of protein shakes, “brotein” and sugar-free Red Bull
  • Hitting (i.e., “raging at”) the gym
  • Attracting women
  • Writing code (i.e., “code hard, code often”)

According to Matt Rosoff at BusinessInsider.com, the term brogramming may be an assertion of a socially macho image gained by programmers in recent years, after a long history of being identified as “geeks.” The predominance of high-powered and profitable tech startups may be one reason for this image shift.

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Margaret Rouse
Technology Specialist
Margaret Rouse
Technology Specialist

Margaret is an award-winning writer and educator known for her ability to explain complex technical topics to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles in the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret’s idea of ​​a fun day is to help IT and business professionals to learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.