This was originally posted in the ZTE Warps ATR section in response to a self proclaimed dev that thought he was owed the Recognized Developer title w/o a shred of proof of any work he had done, or that he was worthy or deserving of such a title. 
oh where, oh where do I start. lol
Since this subject got brought up lol, and since there have been alot of self proclaimed 'devs' pop up lately, I will post my opinion of what a dev is and how one would earn the title Developer. This isnt in any way a representation of how AF feels or requires for the Recognized Developer title, but my opinion on the subject.
A dev, creates stuff, be it stuff he creates from scratch, or redoes something already made. A dev is more than just a themer (will touch on that more in a minute) or modder. Dev is able to compile from source in most cases, able to at least dig thru code, understand what he/she is editing and what it does. Many of you consider me a Dev and actual real developers may not, I didnt proclaim myself as a dev, my peers, friends, and fans did.
now in the Dev circles, many dont consider themers to be developers, but some others do, especially the themers that put in the time n effort to do it right, make sure it all works and looks as it should. We all seen the themers that can be seen as devs, the blow our minds with how they improve a ROMs appearance. Some ROM cookers put the same amount of time n effort into their work.
But what a Dev is not, you just dont decide or proclaim you are a dev, you have to obtain the knowledge to earn that title, you have to show you have the skills, be able to show work you have done. In most cases people should be able to google a dev name and find all sorts of things they have done, not like these johnny come latelys that have been popping up claiming they have this n that and are going to do this and that, yet you google them and all you find is where they stalk people on friendster, or the ps3 gamer profile, etc, etc.
in summary, a Developer earns the title from educating themselves and creating new n better things!!! One just doesnt and shouldnt be allowed to self-proclaim themselves as a developer.
the whoooole thing!!! lol and i must say it/you have inspired me to work harder 
