[ClearAsMud]

See, it's not divisive at all to me. There are two types of degrees - a computer science degree and a computer engineering degree. If you are an engineer - your paper says so. If you are a scientist ... you are a scientist. There is a very BIG difference. Folks that write software can be both engineers and scientists. However, there are key differences in the applications of being an engineer. Just because I write E=mc^2 on a board and apply it to some problem in front of me, doesn't make me a theoretical physicist - it just makes me a guy writing on a board, a formula that a physicist might use. In the case of the story, he's a mechanical "engineer". He isn't a guy off the street calling himself an engineer. He has the education to match the claim. HUGE difference. Software engineers have degrees that state they are. Software / computer scientist can be thrown around more liberally, but a software ENGINEER cannot.

[PhasmaFelis]

"Software Engineering" and "Computer Engineering" are different degrees. I think you're actually talking about software engineering; computer engineering has a heavy focus on hardware, and wouldn't be the first choice for someone who's mainly interested in programming.

[strictnein]

Software engineers would typically have Computer Science degrees, not Computer Engineering degrees.

[ClearAsMud]

Software engineers w/o degrees are just software developers. They are not engineers, by any stretch of the term. Engineering principals applied to software, including performance analysis and validation are done by engineers. There is a big difference. Actually a HUGE difference. This isn't most likely going to be popular here, because a lot of industry folks who are in the epicenter of SF just like the title more than the job .. but it's fact, IMHO. I don't mind having discrediting titles all the time, but it's more ego that pushes it. I could care less about a title, so I'll call it out all the time. Scientists are not engineers.

[strictnein]

> "but it's fact, IMHO"

That's not how facts work.

[aphistic]

> I could care less

Obviously not an engineer.

[astrodust]

Software "engineers" have Computer Science degrees.

"Software Engineers" have Engineering degrees.

Example is University of Waterloo Software Engineering: https://uwaterloo.ca/find-out-more/programs/software-enginee...