You are right about distinguishing between CS & SE. At least here in New Zealand there is a distinction between the two. I have a BE (software eng), which is in

You are right about distinguishing between CS & SE. At least here in New Zealand there is a distinction between the two. I have a BE (software eng), which is internationally accredited, rather than a BSc (CS). The SE degree involves general engineering courses, and has a reasonable focus on reliabiliy, quality, safety etc. A degree like this makes you eligible for the professional engineering body IPENZ. There is a mismatch between the education and what employers seem to look for. You see jobs titled "software engineer" that really only want an html/js coder or someone to set up a wiki, requesting CS degrees or equivalent experience. Jobs that really do demand rigourous software practices will hire anything they can get, but again mainly looking for CS degrees. > Personally, I still think a CS degree is the best preparation right now to be a professional SE. I have to disagree. The best prep for a professional SE career is a professional SE degree, and then joining a professional body. Sure you can get a CS degree and become a programmer, that's fine. But you aren't really a professional engineer are you? I'd say that there are reliable methodologies to build software but a lot of times these are not executed in any meaningful fashion. For the price people are willing to pay, and the time they will wait, quality software is not what they want. They may say they want quality, but they don't really. They really want something delivered yesterday, for free or cheap, that works most of the time and does most of the things they want. And this is what cowboys (uh... I mean "software engineers") deliver. I don't really like the bridges analogy. The complexity and environment are too different for it to be meaningful when compared to software. Thing is, bridges have a well defined function, the banks don't move, the load is generally known (vehicles, people, etc) and so a stable structure can be delivered. And besides, plenty of bridges collapse. If there is an earthquake, or they are overloaded, or they get old, they topple.