[AlexC04]

Can you really be a Software Engineer without a degree? Developer, yes, but the term "engineer" has a certain level of professionalism associated with it that an autodidact computer programmer wouldn't necessarily have.

For point of reference, check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Ring#The_Ritual_of_the_Cal...

> It is a symbol that reflects the moral, ethical and professional commitment made by the engineer who wears the ring.

I'm not an engineer myself and I wouldn't presume to call myself one unless I'd gone through the engineering training.

Am I being too pedantic?

[jswinghammer]

I'm going to go with yes you are being too pedantic. No one really knows what to call programmers so we make up things to say. I write code for my company so I'm the guy who makes things happen to some and to others I perform some sort of dark arts.

I'm pretty good at making things work and bringing a lot of knowledge to any situation requiring my skills.

Does that make me an engineer? Does my lack of degree disqualify me?

[queensnake]

Well, we take (I took) a 'Computers and Society' class, where we talked about the consequences, morality + responsibilities of S.E.. Other than that it was just a bunch of programming etc classes. If you want that 'certified' feeling, maybe find a local school where that course is offered, take it, and then join the ACM.