Software has played an increasingly important role in science over the years. However, software development has long led to a shadowy existence. However, as programs have become more complex and they have often been passed on as a legacy from one development team (often made up of temporary Ph.D. students) Research software as a foundation of scientific work has been increasingly pushed to the fore. In the meantime, job titles such as “research software engineer” have become established in various places. This talk examines the importance of research software in various contexts and how this affects developers of research software.