The idea that different types of programmers is exist is not a radical one. So-called practices of programming encompass software engineering, exploratory programming, and more. Attempts to determine a programmer’s practice beyond self-report remain uncommon, however.

Programmers creating interactive audio software represent a diverse community with varying goals, experiences, and backgrounds. We present a survey of these programmers designed to categorise their practice as either software engineering or exploratory programming and uncover what language features are most impactful to that practice. Our findings suggest that creating interactive audio software is a highly multi-practice endeavour, with most programmers favouring facets of both software engineering and exploratory programming. A Q factor analysis exposes three archetypal programmers differentiated by the impact of specific programming language features on their practice.