>Hi Tom,
>
>Reality is that a lot of software we all use on a daily basis was designed and coded (dare I say engineered?) involving some folks whose closest encounter with "EE" was when they came upon a mouse. :-)
>
>Seriously, when it comes to software, AFAIK there are no licensing and state board testing for the title of "professional engineer" or "engineering intern". Therefore I think one must take a pragmatic view of the title, that is, them that does is.
>

Actually there is in the state of California a term “Professional Engineer”, but not for software. I do not know all the finer points that exist today as I have not worked in my previous profession of “Electrical Engineer” (electronics engineer) for about 10 years. This was true in the electronics-manufacturing world in the state of California: Any company engaged in the manufacturer of electronics equipment must have at least one licensed Professional Engineer. The test is difficult and requirements must be met before you are allowed to take the test. I worked for five years in the electronics manufacturing industry before I was allowed to take my license. The license has real value to the person whom it is issued to.

Perhaps the software industry should consider something along the line of a Professional Engineering License. Our industry allows non degreed individuals to work as programmers (along with all the different titles we are given). The industry does not even have a uniform name for members of our profession. My title is “Staff Specialist”, which is the highest one can go in our organization as a “programmer”.

We have all degrees of competency in the programming world. Some people I know and have worked with are self-taught and have outstanding talents. Others have a title and that is his/her greatest contribution to the profession. Still others with degrees in Computer Science exist and remind me of “Electrical Engineers” right out of college. It would take about five years for an electrical engineer to “learn the ropes”. Some programmers cannot spell “ropes” and give this profession a bad rap IMO.



>Not to say that maybe down the road some state or all states may come up with licensing requirements for software engineers. Some industry orgs have called for it off and on for many years. I remember an ADAPSO (sp?) call for this in 1986. And then there is WWISA (http://www.wwisa.org), founded to promote architectural standards (I'm a member).
>
>OTOH, there are organizations that promote software standards such as the W3C and IEEE. When you think about it, software developers for products with wide distribution generally have to meet industry standards that groups like these promote, thereby lending some degree of professional conformity with generally-accepted structure.
>

As a member of the IEEE I enjoyed the attempt to inject some type of standards into the software world. The DOD had made such an attempt but I think they "dropped the ball".

>Personally, I'm on the fence with this overall but I would say that there are those software professionals with the word "engineer" in their titles who have earned it.
>
>BTW, if it makes you feel any better (or worse, lol), my title is "Software Design Engineer/Test".
>
>>Nor can I agree that anyone should be called a “software engineer”. Such thoughts remind me of a working class called “sanitary engineers”, which others call garbage men. Having a title may or may not be representative of reality. Then again reality comes in many forms, flavors and aromas.