I feel ambivalence about formal licensing, but I do agree this would be a positive element. I would be, even 15 years after the fact, perfectly happy to study

I feel ambivalence about formal licensing, but I do agree this would be a positive element. I would be, even 15 years after the fact, perfectly happy to study intensely for an exam on basic math, data structures, and algorithms, similar to the initial mathematics exams used for the actuarial field. Such an exam would be a lasting and widely respected credential, consistently administered and graded. I wouldn't want to put this kind of effort into a single corporation's exam, because those are graded in secrecy, I have no idea what the credentials are of the people who evaluate it, and I don't get much (any) feedback other than "we decided not to continue with your application at this time...". My worry comes from regulatory capture. I'd hate to see something like a bar association that forces people to go through a very expensive three year post graduate degree, putting them deeply in debt, in order to meet licensing requirements. Would the governing body be allowed to deny math or physics or non-cs engineering related majors the right to take the exam? Also, imagine if people who wrote the EJB spec or the ones who decided all client side code should be written in tag libraries gained control over the licensing procedure? Would the test-driven advocates be able to revoke the license from anyone who publicly questions the value of test-driven methodologies? This could be great - something along the lines of the actuarial exams are appealing to me, as they are rigorous but allow different educational paths to prepare. But this can also go very wrong, it is a real risk.