[delinka]

There's a wide spectrum of capabilities within the set of People Who Can Command Technology. Similarly, there's a wide spectrum of need in various industries for those people. When a company says they want "software engineers," what do they mean? Do they just want coders? People who convert a diagram into code? Do they want someone who can design and implement every layer in their system? There's no "software architect" degree. Nor a "data[base] architect" degree. Yet these are titles that individuals call themselves when they have certain skills.

Maybe instead of simply labeling the skills or the needs, we could spell out our experience (résumé) or requirements (job description.) But we still need a label to get the proverbial ball rolling, to pique the interest of employers and employees; something that says "I know how to tell a computer to do what you want done."

"Software Engineer" sounds like a fine phrase for that.