In Canada, you have to be an accredited professional to use the word Engineer in your title. This means being a member of a specific association, meeting profe

In Canada, you have to be an accredited professional to use the word Engineer in your title. This means being a member of a specific association, meeting professional standards in your work and qualifications. This is enforced in part by a trademark on the word "engineer". In the U.S., there is no such requirement. Anyone can "be an engineer". Now that I work in the US, I call myself a software engineer or a software developer or a programmer, as interchangeable terms. If there is an actual distinction here I would really like to know it. I also wonder how much these terms may have different meanings in other countries/regions.