[oldnewthing]

Paywalled article but ... IMO:

1) Software Engineers should follow structured processes and methods to solve problems. They might look different: state charts, sequence diagrams, formal methods, SDLC etc. However, they often don't because expediency wins over correctness. Where it does matter such as process control systems, embedded systems, they do follow these processes rigorously.

2) That said, there are a lot of folks who may not be aware of these methods because they didn't receive formal training. That is the beauty of our field; you don't need somebody to certify you if you can invent solutions and solve problems. I will refer you to what happened to the author of strongtowns.org. https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2023/1/30/lawsuit-update.... So, no, I beg to differ. We don't need a board of wise old men lording it over the rest of us.

3) We are conversing on, reading the article via, accessing content over the Internet. This is public infrastructure. Without the software engineers who invented/built BGP, TCP/IP, SNMP, etc., we would not be able to do this.