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> There are different degrees of software engineering. That's true, but at some point it's no longer engineering. To practice engineering in my jurisdiction, i
by slavik81 8y ago
> There are different degrees of software engineering.
That's true, but at some point it's no longer engineering. To practice engineering in my jurisdiction, it's required that you hold a professional license and work for a company with a permit to practice.
I am a professional software engineer (P.Eng.), but many employers for non-critical software do not have a permit to practice. They have no need for it.
I need to file my Continuing Professional Development hours every year. One category of hours is just "practicing engineering". However, if I am working for a company that does not have a permit to practice, it would be quite a problem if I claimed I was practicing engineering.
Practically speaking, that means software engineering is just the development of software which could be dangerous (at least where I live). It's distinguished from general software development mostly by the need for rigour.
- gpvos 8y agoFascinating! Which country is that?
- ringshall 8y agoGiven the 'P.Eng', probably Canada.
- slavik81 8y agoCanada. I should also note that anyone can assist an engineer, so it's not like Computer Scientists are cut out of the field. Many disciplines have technicians and other specialists who are just as technically capable as the engineers in their domain (often more so). The lead engineer signs off of on releases, and they're the main person held responsible if there's a safety incident traced back to sloppy work. That was the only real difference between the engineers and non-engineers I worked with. It basically just meant, "the buck stops here."