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> If you want to be a software engineer and you do not have any code to present in an interview, you can not call yourself a programmer. You can still call you

> If you want to be a software engineer and you do not have any code to present in an interview, you can not call yourself a programmer. You can still call yourself a Computer Scientist, but there's a difference between the two.

clarry 7y ago
Only if you're doing computer science. What I do is primarily programming.
MaxBarraclough 7y ago
You can call yourself a computer scientist if you have at least one serious computer science publication to your name. You seemed to be implying that the bar for calling yourself a computer scientist is lower than the bar for calling yourself a programmer. The opposite is true. Also, not all computer scientists are in the business of writing code.
- pinkfoot 7y ago
  Nonsense, People call themselves chemists, geologists, etc. without ever publishing anything. Ditto computer scientists.
  - MaxBarraclough 7y ago
    I'm aware that some people want to cheapen the word. 'Scientist' isn't a protected title. Anyone is legally permitted to claim the term. That doesn't mean that everyone with a science-related bachelor's degree is really a scientist. 'Scientist' is meant to mean 'person who does science'. Roughly speaking, that means someone who produces research papers. If someone says I've been a scientist for ten years, they mean to say they've been doing science for ten years. They do not mean merely that they were awarded a Bachelor of Science degree ten years ago. This is less of an issue in, say, bridge engineering. The term 'engineer' is (in some jurisdictions) a protected term, reserved for proper chartered engineers. If you have a better word for people who make a profession of doing science, I'd like to hear it.
    - pinkfoot 7y ago
      Why? 1) Its the long-accepted term - its what the universities put on your Bachelor of SCIENCE certificate. Part of our rich oral history if you will. 2) Research chemists don't suddenly start using the term 'chemistry scientist'. They are all just chemists. No hang-ups.
      - MaxBarraclough 7y ago
        > Its the long-accepted term - its what the universities put on your Bachelor of SCIENCE certificate We're not talking about the word science, we're talking about the word scientist. It is indeed a long-accepted term. Scientist means someone who does science. It does not mean someone with a basic grounding in the field, which is what a BSc indicates. With few exceptions, scientists hold PhDs. That is, after all, the point of a PhD. If you get a BSc in computer science and then make a billion dollars selling fidget-spinners, your Wikipedia article will describe you as an 'entrepreneur'. There's no way it would describe you as a 'scientist'. > Research chemists don't suddenly start using the term 'chemistry scientist'. They are all just chemists. Chemists are scientists by definition, and the same thing applies here. Holding a BSc in chemistry does not make you a chemist. Doing chemistry, and presumably publishing papers, makes you a chemist. As with the distinction between computer science and software engineering, there is a distinction between chemistry and chemical engineering.
        pinkfoot 7y ago
        > Doing chemistry, make you a chemist. As does doing computer science. I did computer science last week (analysed the run time complexity of an algorithm). Hence: computer scientist.
        pinkfoot 7y ago
        > Holding a BSc in chemistry does not make you a chemist. No, it absolutely complete, totally, without exception does. Just look at the job advertisements.

clarry 7y ago

Only if you're doing computer science. What I do is primarily programming.

MaxBarraclough 7y ago

You can call yourself a computer scientist if you have at least one serious computer science publication to your name. You seemed to be implying that the bar for calling yourself a computer scientist is lower than the bar for calling yourself a programmer. The opposite is true. Also, not all computer scientists are in the business of writing code.

pinkfoot 7y ago
Nonsense, People call themselves chemists, geologists, etc. without ever publishing anything. Ditto computer scientists.
- MaxBarraclough 7y ago
  I'm aware that some people want to cheapen the word. 'Scientist' isn't a protected title. Anyone is legally permitted to claim the term. That doesn't mean that everyone with a science-related bachelor's degree is really a scientist. 'Scientist' is meant to mean 'person who does science'. Roughly speaking, that means someone who produces research papers. If someone says I've been a scientist for ten years, they mean to say they've been doing science for ten years. They do not mean merely that they were awarded a Bachelor of Science degree ten years ago. This is less of an issue in, say, bridge engineering. The term 'engineer' is (in some jurisdictions) a protected term, reserved for proper chartered engineers. If you have a better word for people who make a profession of doing science, I'd like to hear it.
  - pinkfoot 7y ago
    Why? 1) Its the long-accepted term - its what the universities put on your Bachelor of SCIENCE certificate. Part of our rich oral history if you will. 2) Research chemists don't suddenly start using the term 'chemistry scientist'. They are all just chemists. No hang-ups.
    - MaxBarraclough 7y ago
      > Its the long-accepted term - its what the universities put on your Bachelor of SCIENCE certificate We're not talking about the word science, we're talking about the word scientist. It is indeed a long-accepted term. Scientist means someone who does science. It does not mean someone with a basic grounding in the field, which is what a BSc indicates. With few exceptions, scientists hold PhDs. That is, after all, the point of a PhD. If you get a BSc in computer science and then make a billion dollars selling fidget-spinners, your Wikipedia article will describe you as an 'entrepreneur'. There's no way it would describe you as a 'scientist'. > Research chemists don't suddenly start using the term 'chemistry scientist'. They are all just chemists. Chemists are scientists by definition, and the same thing applies here. Holding a BSc in chemistry does not make you a chemist. Doing chemistry, and presumably publishing papers, makes you a chemist. As with the distinction between computer science and software engineering, there is a distinction between chemistry and chemical engineering.
      - pinkfoot 7y ago
        > Doing chemistry, make you a chemist. As does doing computer science. I did computer science last week (analysed the run time complexity of an algorithm). Hence: computer scientist.
      - pinkfoot 7y ago
        > Holding a BSc in chemistry does not make you a chemist. No, it absolutely complete, totally, without exception does. Just look at the job advertisements.