Web developer or Software developer

Maybe I'm wrong, but I think that web developers are just a subset of software developers. As a software developer, you can always specialize in web.

If I was writing the back-end of a web application in PHP, I'd still say I was a software developer. I'd also be a web developer. I'd be both.
They're both software jobs. If you learn to be a programmer / software engineer, you can do both jobs.

If I used PHP to make a web-application, it's definitely being used as a web-development language...
...but if I use PHP to make a desktop application, it's being used as a traditional software-development language.

I'm currently working as a software developer, and sometimes i develop for the web.
As it was stated above, web development can be viewed as a subset of software development.
I'd draw the line at markup, though.
Writing markup by hand is neither, although its often interpreted in software development, xml in general,
Or html if you want to display something interpreted by a browser.

The difference is gradual though. Are you a web developer because you develop and maintain a webserver?
Probably. Depends on which parts of the server, I'd say.

Among other things, php outputs html. This in IMO an excellent example of web development close to the steel. - low-level, some might say. But you can develop for the web with asp.net as well, with C# and VB. Net, and they and php are very different languages.
But they are all languages meant for software development.

I foresee the web to have a very bright, but also very different future.
We're witnesses to its constant change. But the web is basically what happened when we started communicating software across the Internet.

I personally think that you'd be better off with a degree in software engineering rather than web development. -It's easier to extend onto because it is not a specialization as much as web development is.

You should really look for what job you most enjoy doing - you don't want to get stuck in a job you hate for 30-40 years, just because it makes you some extra money (you'd probably waste the extra money on frequent vacations and fancy toys, trying to distract yourself from being stuck in a job you don't like).

Just my personal opinion.

You can check average salaries on websites like PayScale. [C++][C#][Java][PHP]
It may not be entirely accurate, and keep in mind some of the numbers are for the 1 leadership position at companies, so this isn't what you'll be making right out of college.

For what it's worth, I just learned PHP over the past 30 days or so (though I haven't memorized its standard library nor 'mastered' the language). It was super easy to learn... C++ has taken me over 4 years to really learn, and now starting my 8th year of C++, I still haven't 'mastered' it (though I'm really good at it). Ofcourse my C++ experience helped me learn PHP much more rapidly then someone completely new, I still think it wouldn't take a complete newbie more than 6 months.
I would expect, just based off of difficulty alone, C++/C#/Java programmers would have higher wages (which the PayScale data tends to agree with). PHP would have more people who know it, and thus less demand and lower wages.

But you know what's more important than any one skill? Learning alot of skills, so you can be flexible and help your company in any situation that comes up, making you the "go to" guy that is indispensable. Create your own position, and excel at it.

[This is advice from someone who never worked in a production environment, and is trying to be self-employed - take it with a grain of salt]

1. The answer to your first question can be easily discovered with just a little bit of research on sites which list professions and salaries, or by looking at the local job postings for these positions.
2. Philosophically speaking, a "language" is a set of written instructions for a computer to process and execute. Thus, even plain HTML can be considered a programming language (or script). The more complex languages will have features more common with typical programming languages, like control structures, variables, branches and loops, methods, etc.
3. I consider "programming" to be language agnostic. Usually, when you're learning your first programming language, you struggle because you're trying to learn how to program and you're trying to learn the syntax of that language at the same time. Once you figure out how to program, picking up new languages is relatively easy because you're just focused on learning its structure and syntax. You're not asking "How do I program?" but "How do I do this action in this particular language?"

Lots of great responses. You don't have to choose to be just one either. I specialize in .Net, but I also know Java, Perl, and Pick BASIC. Find what you like and take that bull by the horns and own it.

Lance...

I work in the web developer industry. Generally, they get paid less than the average desktop software developer, but I'm not sure how the differences in average change as you gradually improve in experience.

Money shouldn't be your primary criteria for finding a job- you should find a job that you will enjoy doing and can almost treat the workplace as a home away from home. Except of course, if you're being severely underpaid as it seems to happen more in the junior tier of employees, which in that case, find a new job ASAP.

PHP is in more demand, but there is also more competition there. I think the pay scale reflects that compared to languages like Java and C# because programmers that use this language seem to be more expendable.

Starting out, you should try to get good in one language professionally, but use your spare time to learn others. I've mainly used PHP for the past 5 years but breaking into a .Net job is still pretty hard for me. Programming may be language agnostic, but when it comes to business, they're rather hire someone that has the right bullet points in their resume or prove that they can get the experience in that language quickly. But that's my experience, though. I learned C# on my own, and the closest I got to getting a .Net job in the web industry was because they were looking for someone who knows PHP and wanted to convert their legacy PHP code into C#/.Net.

Well actually i'm totally new in programming and but i love IT and Computer field i'm working just as data entry operator in local company that is okay for now , until i got a good job. So i want to choose a computer field to get started there are so many fields like computer administrator, Software developer , Web developer ETC. As i have no experience of any of these categories so i searched on internet and i found that Programming is best for me cause it has a future, well i'm fast learner mostly i learn computer skills so fast as i think. So i want to choose on of these two categories .
Software developer or web developer
As till now i have no experience of above these categories. To my information of few days i got that web developing is little bit easy and demanding languages than software developing but software developing has more wages than web developing. So now i'm confused which one i should i choose????????????????

Learn both. I would suggest start learning Python here, and in a few months (at the same time as still learning to program) create a blog by modifying a Wordpress theme to learn HTML and PHP.

Learn many skills. Even some things I've learned from construction and woodworking help me program better (basic cross-discipline truths).