[dotancohen]

Every time that somebody calls me a software engineer I correct them that I'm a software developer. The word engineer has specific meaning and unless an accredited university gave you that title you should not be using it.

I realize that HN has many actual software engineers, but it seems like every frontend dev today calls himself an engineer. Even on the Laravel website, the default job title for new members is software engineer.

[GuB-42]

In most fields, there is a distinction between an engineer, who designs solutions, and a technician, who implements them. It is a bit blurred for software as it is common for one person to do both the design (an engineer job) and the code (a technician job), in fact, it is common for the design to be expressed in code. And because of the two, the title of engineer is the more prestigious one, they are all engineers.

I remember seeing technician jobs for programmers (not "developers"). The difference was that engineers were expected to have a masters degree (5 years) while technicians were expected to have a associate degree (2 years). The contract also was different, usually with a fixed schedule and a lower pay excluding overtime, as any overtime was expected to be paid. But for the job itself, there was essentially no difference between a junior engineer and a technician. Now, listed technician jobs are becoming rare.

Note that it is in France, where degrees matter more than in the US and employment is more regulated, the distinction probably wouldn't be as meaningful in the US.