Phil Greenspun wrote about "software engineering professionalism", and it's still the best thing I've ever read on the subject: http://philip.greenspun.com/sei

Phil Greenspun wrote about "software engineering professionalism", and it's still the best thing I've ever read on the subject: http://philip.greenspun.com/seia/writeup http://philip.greenspun.com/seia/writeup I would say "Surgeon 3" exemplifies the world-class professional, quite literally.