[Discuss] Programming vs Engineering

[Tom Metro]

Richard Pieri wrote:
> Engineers, like doctors, are licensed professionals.  They are held
> to codified standards of practice and ethics.

You are conflating engineer with Professional Engineer (PE). The later
has a specific definition with licensing requirements. The
"Professional" part of the title isn't just an adjective describing any
random engineer that happens to get paid to work.


> Says the Commonwealth of Massachusetts:
> http://www.mass.gov/ocabr/licensee/dpl-boards/en/

As others pointed out, this is clearly a definition for a *Professional*
Engineer.

Dating back well before the invention of Software Engineers we had
Mechanical Engineers, Electrical Engineers, and Chemical Engineers, all
of whom were not licensed as Professional Engineers, unless they elected
to do so.

The "engineer" title is largely a reflection of education, but as
Matthew Gillen pointed out, the definition is more broad and anyone who
practices engineering can have the title applied.

Where you draw the line between technician or tradesperson and engineer
is a matter of convention within each industry.

I'll agree that the software field probably should have a "software
technician" title (perhaps it is "software developer", or "programmer",
as someone else mentioned), and some better understood guidelines for
what distinguishes it from a "software engineer." You don't, however,
need a government issued license to make that distinction.


> Programmers typically are not held to any
> standards other than those set by their employers...
> I think this is a problem.  I think that Software Engineers should
> join the ranks of Professional Engineering professions and that they
> should be trained and tested and licensed the same as other
> Professional Engineers.

I'll second Marks points that the lack of such standards are largely due
to the immaturity of the field, and that jumping to establish standards
could easily have a stagnating effect on the state of the art.

We do have a whole litany of certifications available. If you dismiss
the validity/value of such certifications, what makes you believe that a
single industry administered test will prove more accurate at qualifying
software developers as being of Professional Engineer quality?

 -Tom

-- 
Tom Metro
Venture Logic, Newton, MA, USA
"Enterprise solutions through open source."
Professional Profile: http://tmetro.venturelogic.com/