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I would prefer an apprenticeship system. Possibly have several levels. To get to the next level you would have to create an independent project that you submi

I would prefer an apprenticeship system. Possibly have several levels. To get to the next level you would have to create an independent project that you submit to the committee. The committee would review it and then interview you. This would culminate in a master-level project at which point you would be allowed to refer to yourself as a "master programmer". As others have said, there are already engineering societies and you can become a professional/certified engineer but there is not really much demand at the moment. I'd really prefer trying to set up a parallel system that achieves other goals (improving the overall ability of programmers).

fsloth 10y ago
Generally these sort of systems are in place to maintain a high price of labor. As demand exceeds supply it's unlikely there is much need for this process in the near future. If there was more supply than need, then people would quickly pine for a certification and start fighting to restrict employment of non-certified programmers.
_pmf_ 10y ago
> To get to the next level you would have to create an independent project that you submit to the committee. What use is it to be able to create an independent project when 100 per cent of your work consists of delivering implementations according to specifications created by other people, using interfaces created by other people? Being able to create a single-developer green field project takes you about one fifth the way to being able to survive in large projects (where "large" may also mean a very simple project embedded in layers over layers of process, politics and regulations).
WorldMaker 10y ago
Engineering certification managed by the NCEES (the Professional Engineer certification), used by most other engineering disciplines outside of software, has an apprenticeship of sorts in that one much work for several years as an Engineer-in-Training before being able to get your PE credentials. They do offer Software PEs as of recent. Yes, the real question is more one of bootstrapping demand than finding associations to provide credentials. I considered trying for a Software PE because my current job (which is an environmental engineering firm where PEs in civil/environmental/electrical/et al are required/needed/present) would give me a small salary bonus for a PE title (and job title distinction that matters to my ego), but the effort involved doesn't seem worth it if the distinction is largely ignored by the software industry itself.

fsloth 10y ago

Generally these sort of systems are in place to maintain a high price of labor. As demand exceeds supply it's unlikely there is much need for this process in the near future. If there was more supply than need, then people would quickly pine for a certification and start fighting to restrict employment of non-certified programmers.

_pmf_ 10y ago

> To get to the next level you would have to create an independent project that you submit to the committee. What use is it to be able to create an independent project when 100 per cent of your work consists of delivering implementations according to specifications created by other people, using interfaces created by other people? Being able to create a single-developer green field project takes you about one fifth the way to being able to survive in large projects (where "large" may also mean a very simple project embedded in layers over layers of process, politics and regulations).

WorldMaker 10y ago

Engineering certification managed by the NCEES (the Professional Engineer certification), used by most other engineering disciplines outside of software, has an apprenticeship of sorts in that one much work for several years as an Engineer-in-Training before being able to get your PE credentials. They do offer Software PEs as of recent. Yes, the real question is more one of bootstrapping demand than finding associations to provide credentials. I considered trying for a Software PE because my current job (which is an environmental engineering firm where PEs in civil/environmental/electrical/et al are required/needed/present) would give me a small salary bonus for a PE title (and job title distinction that matters to my ego), but the effort involved doesn't seem worth it if the distinction is largely ignored by the software industry itself.