It's all semantics. It comes down what's the definition of engineering. I personally think we shouldn't look for metaphors in other fields with "science" or "

It's all semantics. It comes down what's the definition of engineering. I personally think we shouldn't look for metaphors in other fields with "science" or "engineering" in their names. A program is a programmer. Developer is also fine, but it implies a bit more than programmer. Programmer can be someone who just programs the machine to implement the ideas of someone else (product managers). Developer implies someone who develops these ideas, not just implements them. I think "Hacker" is a fine word to describe a programmer/developer. It implies a sense of ownership and pride and craftsmanship.