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What software engineering licensure do you propose one obtain? And why would folks bother to obtain it, if it is almost entirely, if not entirely, not required

• btilly 17y ago
  The fact that there is no license in widespread use does not mean that there is no argument for creating one. See http://www.stevemcconnell.com/psd.htm http://www.stevemcconnell.com/psd.htm for part of Steve McConnell's argument that we need to create, respect, and for certain kinds of projects require true software engineers sign off on the plans.
  • tjr 17y ago
    I personally agree that there should be one, but right now, there really isn't much of anything that requires it. A few organizations have dabbled with licensing software developers, but not much has come of it. I work on software for avionics systems. We have reams of requirements based upon industry standards, plethoras of verification procedures, and seemingly endless rounds of peer reviews, followed by formal flight testing. It can take hours of paperwork to change one line of code, to ensure quality and meet certification guidelines. In my opinion, this sort of work is about as "engineering" as software development can get. I suspect work like this would benefit from having developers who are seriously licensed to do "engineering" work... the whole mindset is a lot different from doing a web startup, and I reckon most software people recently out of college are more in tune with the startup way of thinking than the sort of work that goes on with avionics. Of course, not everyone wants to work with avionics. Maybe a license shouldn't be needed for doing web startups.