Can we call our self a software engineer after learning C++ and Data Structures & Algorithm?
Software Engineer???
Can we call our self a software engineer after learning C++ and Data Structures & Algorithm?
Can I call myself a pirate after putting a flag out my window?
What do you want to say?
My original response, while sounding silly, reflects an actual answer.
An example - I have a very good friend, who is very smart, and extremely savvy with Linux. A few years ago, he got a sweet network admin job at his company. As part of his promotion, they insisted on giving him "Engineer" as part of his title. It was complete BS ... and to his credit, he knew it was total BS.
My point? It takes more than knowing a few tricks to earn the title of "Engineer" for real.
If you have to ask whether a few meager accomplishments allows you to call yourself an Engineer, then you most likely aren't.
But maybe I'm being unfair to you. What qualifications can you put forth to back up your credentials? Training and experience can go a long way here, so let us know where you stand with those.
Well, if he has a CCIE cert, I don't think anyone would object to him being called a "network engineer", even though he would not be a Professional EngineerOriginally Posted by Matticus
Look up a C++ Reference and learn How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
Depends on where you hail from. I many countries, it is illegal to call yourself an engineer without a formal college degree. In a few others, you also have to be a member of that country's engineering regulatory body; usually an Order of Engineers. Mind you that some countries do have an Order of Engineers, but it doesn't act as an official regulatory body. It is merely a civil organization usually bound to principles of pride and fraternity. So the presence of an Order of Engineers alone isn't a sign that there are laws in place to regulate the engineering profession.
Legal matters aside, from the point of view an ad-hoc denomination, it is usually frowned upon for someone to call herself an engineer without any formal education or at least professional experience in the field, particularly in computer science where the professional responsibilities and tasks associated with a Software Engineer are different from that of a software developer or programmer. A software engineer is expected to be able to solve computing problems by programming, but also have abilities in the areas of project analysis and management.
Originally Posted by brewbuck:
Reimplementing a large system in another language to get a 25% performance boost is nonsense. It would be cheaper to just get a computer which is 25% faster.
In some states in the USA (Minnesota being the one with which I am most familiar), it is against the law to call yourself an engineer in a professional capacity, unless you have a college degree in engineering.
What can this strange device be?
When I touch it, it gives forth a sound
It's got wires that vibrate and give music
What can this thing be that I found?
Where am at you can 'call' yourself anything ;-D
The problem comes when taking contracts. Even if you know and are skilled in a certain field you can't take a contract without a licensed engineer's signature which means you have to pay a licensed engineer to sign the contracts. This normally applied to hardware contracts and I personally think its kind of sensible since if hard to grasp hardware engineering unless you've taken classes somewhere.
There's a board that licenses graduates with engineering degrees kinda like what we have in medicine in most countries.
And in some cases a PE license
Eh... I think with software it's a little different. You're not building bridges. You're not building buildings. You're not building roller coasters.
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that 95% of all software developed won't kill anyone if there's a mistake. Yes, there is software that if it fails, people will die. But those jobs are few and far between.
So it just seems absurd to me that to be a "software engineer" you have to be all formally accredited and whatnot.
And Mario, stop saying "herself". That bugs the crap out of me. Just use the generic "themselves". Sorry, that's been welling up inside me for a long time lol.
I have no objection to that, but it's preferable if you also wear an eye patch and always have a parrot on your shoulder as well.
"Software Engineer" is different, but calling yourself an "engineer" in general this applies in some cases. In CA if you want to do anything to do with public works, buildings, bridges, etc. you have to have a PE license regardless of the type of engineer (minus software), but also offering yourself as a consultant and/or owning an engineering business that will be in responsible charge requires it in some cases. A lot of people/companies operate under the industrial exemption. Like I said, in some cases you need it to claim you're that type of engineer as well. Ex. I have a degree in mechanical engineering, but if I want to start a consulting business doing that type of work I need a PE, and if I want to have a business card (as a standalone consultant) that says I'm a mechanical engineer, I need one for that too.
What is a PE?
I had to go through all this crap in the past year or so, I just took the PE exam for control systems engineering 6 weeks ago. CSE is exempted from all of this and the PE license for it is just a title, but things like mechanical/electrical/civil/structural have an "authority" or "practice" PE licenses.
Give Mario a break, she can use what ever pronouns she wants.
It's amazing the number of different opinions on exactly how to deal with genderless pronouns. "He" is sexist, "She" is weird, "Them" is wrong. And the only genderless pronoun in the English language is ironically enough a big no-no. You just got to have fun and use them all. In fact, we should put up a calendar.
Originally Posted by brewbuck:
Reimplementing a large system in another language to get a 25% performance boost is nonsense. It would be cheaper to just get a computer which is 25% faster.
I think that the argument that they/them/etc are incorrect because they are plural is inaccurate. Those pronouns are, in modern English, pretty much accepted as genderless pronouns referring to a singular depending upon context.
Fixed it:
it is usually frowned upon to call oneself an engineer without having any formal education or at least professional experience in the field
