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by sounders 4970 days ago
I think it's interesting that people with a computer science and technical background are often referred to as "engineers" in tech.

It seems like such a general label that can apply to anyone from a chemical engineer to a CS major, it all depends on the context.

3 comments

I just graduated from Uni (in Maths). I had a lot of engineering friends, who didn't mind the CS students going into "engineering" jobs. They got really annoyed with a "telephone engineer" installing their telephone line - they were like "No, you're a technician". The difference in their eyes is that engineers are designing and implementing systems, which we ofc do in software development, whereas technicians solve low-level problems in those systems.
At least in university I went, first 2 years was pretty much general engineering, with chemistry and biology etc. included. Even now, most of grantpas and grantmas around, I'm speaking with, if I tell them, that I'm engineer, they trying to ask me to fix their TV/computer/washing machine etc. In most cases, I'm trying...
To train drivers to army bridge builders.