The ones I consider good are the people who go beyond the “how”. I don’t care how good you are at hammering out code, I care only about how good you are about creating a maintainable solution and can explain the reasoning behind the solution.
The ones I consider great are the ones who manage to do the same, in a very hostile environment with lots of pressure and people unwilling/incapable to cooperate.
From the dictionary:
That’s it, 'nuff said.
Do they qualify if the programs don’t compile?
Yes. A person is still a baker if the bread comes out burnt. He might go out of business, or get laid off, but until then, he’s a baker.
So maybe we should say that: programmers are a dime a bakers dozen?
There are very few people who write computer programs, really. Most people look at me like I’m some kind of wizard because it’s so beyond the general populace grasping. And really, isn’t it a sort of magic to those who don’t understand? I don’t know what makes my car go, I just trust that it does. I don’t know most of what’s behind making my computer hardware go but it does. And somebody knows. That might as well be magic to me.
I’m not saying I couldn’t understand if I put in the effort, but the general populace could understand programming if they decided to also. But they don’t want to - so we’re rare and we get paid well. 
Code that never compiles is not a program. I’d say a baker who only produces charcoal could only be called so in a performance art sense. To me, a baker has to occasionally produce actual baked goods.
So then is the art in the performance or the product? Hmmm, things to ponder. Might argue now that a philosopher is a programmer who burned out on coding … 
To me that seems quite obvious: it’s in the performance. If a writer person spends his entire life writing a book and dies while writing the last page. Was he not a writer?
Dont agree at all. You could only write pseudo code - or just dont mind the details or stuff. It’s not about that.
Riven is right - what you do is who you are; has nothing to do with quality or something
In contradiction, let’s say you make a game with stencyl or watever that require no keyboard. How about that? I don’t think so. The process matter.
I agree with Riven, even if you don’t complete a project, what you are considered depends on the amount of time you spend doing it.
There are many people who write computer programs, but do not have a degree. Just because they do not have a degree, it doesn’t make them any less of a programmer. So how can you say that if someone doesn’t finish a computer program, they are not a programmer. Whether you finish something or not, it depends on the amount of time spent doing it.
A person who spends a little bit of time is usually an amateur, beginning programmer. Even if they don’t finish anything, they still have the title because they spent the time to try. It is the same with any profession, you really don’t need a certificate. You just need to spend a little bit of time and you’ll be recognized with the title. The only difference here is how much time you’ve spent, the more experience you have… the deeper the title meaning. Like the difference between an expert, intermediate, or beginner. It is all based on time.
That’s what people said about 10,000 hours of coding.
You are a programmer if you actually like programming.
And otherwise you are a coder?
When you type lot of semicolon. Because normal computer user wont use semicolon that much.
A programmer puts a concept into a sequencial series of instructions.
In this sense any mother is a programmer when writing the groceries list:
1-buy butter
2-eggs
3-Edammer cheese
if no Edammer look for Gouda
4-Fruits
5-if it rains, dont buy the cole, but buy a cake
else buy cole, meat and beer (if in US, skip last instruction)
6-look at 2, in case you forgot the eggs again! (assert)
if yes, dont bother coming home
No, otherwise you are someone who has to program but would rather not have to do it.
Most people I know working as Software Engineers see programming as a necessary evil they must endure until they can become managers. Only the weird ones like me are passionate about coding.
I mean, I just managed to beat Java’s standard Stack implementation benchmark time… And I’m totally ecstatic… And I did it just to prove I could! ;D
Edit: I guess bragging about your coding prowess also counts!
But… but… WHAT IF I WANT TO USE PYTHON!!! :’( :’( :’( :’( :’( :’( :’( :’( :’(
@Oskuro:
I like to program, but I get tired of doing it 45+ hours per week. Part of what I loved so much about making hobby games before I went professional was that games are so multi-discipline; I spent a lot of time on the art, music, design, etc. as well. So I could get breaks from the programming. There is absolutely satisfaction to the problem solving, writing a smart algorithm, etc., but goodness is it a drag to be all that I do. Half of my brain is unused.
So a Taxi Driver who hates being a Taxi Drive, who does it for a living, for 20 years, is not a Taxi Driver because he doesn’t like it ?
Nah, you are what you do.
Ugg. Exact reason why I stopped working for corps. Program less and replace that by soul sucking activities like yet more meetings, moving people from important roles to making coffee, firing people, cancelling projects and/or jumping up-and-down on peoples heads. Management sucks.