A little background
I graduated with a bachelor's degree in computer science not too long ago. Unfortunately, I didn't understand the importance of formal research for grad admissions as an undergrad. I got a software development job in industry, but it has little relevance to my career path (not just my academic career path either).
As I looked around for opportunities to remedy this situation, I found a few jobs in academia as a software developer working in a lab. These seem to fall in some gray area in terms of research vs. software development. While these jobs aren't "research" jobs (in that you aren't the one making breakthroughs or responsible for writing papers, for example), they involve developing/integrating code relevant to research (e.g., creating programs for the researchers and/or assemble their code into a larger program). Obviously, the ship has sailed for me to do formal research as an undergrad.
Also
Before someone links to this, I read this post already and many other relevant posts on this site: Usefulness of prior industry experience before entering grad school?
My question is more specific. I can possibly be more specific as well, but I'm not sure how general I should/can make this question. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Formal Question
What impact could a software development job in a research lab have on grad school admissions (research masters and PhD in computer science) compared to a software development job in industry?
