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It's true that software engineering doesn't require licenses like other engineers, and is not regulated unlike other engineering professions. But after that th

It's true that software engineering doesn't require licenses like other engineers, and is not regulated unlike other engineering professions. But after that the article goes off the rails trying to draw a distinction. Programming above a certain level is engineering, just like being a mechanic above a certain level is engineering. Unregulated, unlicensed software engineering has also produced stupendous advances in programming in the last few decades, not remotely matched by advances in other heavily regulated and licensed professions.

rjbwork 9y ago
Seriously - I'm creating resources, connecting them together, gathering data on performance, adjusting sizes, bandwidths, re-engineering components that are degrading or insufficient for their purpose, etc. etc. etc. Yeah i'm programming to do some of that, but a lot of it involves building systems from infrastructure that don't fall over with a bunch of stuff gets put on top of it or goes through it. Sounds pretty dang engineery to me.
zaksoup 9y ago
Requirements for licenses and regulations of that sort almost always end up entrenching existing businesses more than they help consumers. I'm about as pro regulation as one can get but I'm always leery toward suggestions that licensing is what it would take for Software Engineering to be recognized as a 'real discipline' NPR has some fantastic reporting on licensing in the beauty industry and how it not only entrenches existing players but turned out to be really harmful to African American communities: https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2012/06/22/155596305/episode-381-why-its-illegal-to-braid-hair-without-a-license https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2012/06/22/155596305/epis...
starpilot 9y ago
> just like being a mechanic above a certain level is engineering And therein lies the confusion. There is no level at which a mechanic becomes an engineer. You can be both a mechanic and an engineer, but these are separate tracks with separate skills and training. A skilled mechanical engineer can be an inept mechanic, and vice versa. The fact that you don't understand traditional engineering shows why you consider programmers to be "engineers."
- skookumchuck 9y ago
  > you don't understand traditional engineering The first rate engineers I've known were competent mechanics as well. A traditional engineering course of study involves lots of time in the shop. A mechanic becomes an engineer when he goes beyond merely implementing "book" solutions - when he starts understanding the "book" solutions, why they work, and where they come from.

rjbwork 9y ago

Seriously - I'm creating resources, connecting them together, gathering data on performance, adjusting sizes, bandwidths, re-engineering components that are degrading or insufficient for their purpose, etc. etc. etc. Yeah i'm programming to do some of that, but a lot of it involves building systems from infrastructure that don't fall over with a bunch of stuff gets put on top of it or goes through it. Sounds pretty dang engineery to me.

zaksoup 9y ago

Requirements for licenses and regulations of that sort almost always end up entrenching existing businesses more than they help consumers. I'm about as pro regulation as one can get but I'm always leery toward suggestions that licensing is what it would take for Software Engineering to be recognized as a 'real discipline' NPR has some fantastic reporting on licensing in the beauty industry and how it not only entrenches existing players but turned out to be really harmful to African American communities: https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2012/06/22/155596305/episode-381-why-its-illegal-to-braid-hair-without-a-license https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2012/06/22/155596305/epis...

starpilot 9y ago

> just like being a mechanic above a certain level is engineering And therein lies the confusion. There is no level at which a mechanic becomes an engineer. You can be both a mechanic and an engineer, but these are separate tracks with separate skills and training. A skilled mechanical engineer can be an inept mechanic, and vice versa. The fact that you don't understand traditional engineering shows why you consider programmers to be "engineers."

skookumchuck 9y ago
> you don't understand traditional engineering The first rate engineers I've known were competent mechanics as well. A traditional engineering course of study involves lots of time in the shop. A mechanic becomes an engineer when he goes beyond merely implementing "book" solutions - when he starts understanding the "book" solutions, why they work, and where they come from.