In German we use a different terminology for the whole field. It's called 'Informatik', as in the science of processing information. The people doing this are t

In German we use a different terminology for the whole field. It's called 'Informatik', as in the science of processing information. The people doing this are thus called 'Informatiker'. This alone helps, I feel, in making people understand that there is some degree of formal training behind it, that 'Informatiker' aren't just code monkeys. Granted, many still use the term Software Engineer today, simply because Engineer degrees have a higher entry barrier and thus have a better sound to them (you can get 'Informatiker' degrees without a higher education by doing an 3-4y apprenticeship at 16, a very common way of how education works in Germany and Switzerland). In any case I think that the English speaking CS pioneers have failed to coin a good term for their field - CS just isn't right, especially regarding the English definition of 'Science'. It also leaves non-CS-degree holders who practice this job in a sort of vacuum about what to call themselves.