Yes. You may not like it. I may not even like it but everyone from people who drive trains to technicians in lots of areas use the title.
Furthermore, tons of experienced working engineers outside of software don't have PEs. They're just not needed in a lot of contexts.
Edit: I'm referring mostly to the US. Licensing bodies in some places (perhaps including some US states) may say that only licensed engineers can be called/are engineers although the degree to which such strictures are followed will almost certainly vary. (I was told this was the case in Texas but there's no shortage of people in Texas who call themselves engineers but aren't PEs.)
Addendum: can someone tell me what's wrong with using software developer as a description of what we do?, why do we need to borrow other professions titles?, it's because we want more respect?
I would guess that's the short version of it. I would surmise that 'engineer' basically means to do a hell of a lot more rigorous logic testing of the software and hardware products and would therefore also get paid more. Then comes along these fancy little startups who want to hire away that talent but don't fully understand that the word 'engineer' is a protected word in but do know the context basically suggests more responsibility. So then they make leading roles 'engineers' and supporting roles 'developers'. Then it snowballs from there because software isn't _nearly_ as rigorous as a civil engineer or mechanical engineer where the word means that you're legally responsible for the lives at stake.
I honestly think that software "engineers" should be legally liable for the lives at stake though.
ghaff|6 years ago
Furthermore, tons of experienced working engineers outside of software don't have PEs. They're just not needed in a lot of contexts.
Edit: I'm referring mostly to the US. Licensing bodies in some places (perhaps including some US states) may say that only licensed engineers can be called/are engineers although the degree to which such strictures are followed will almost certainly vary. (I was told this was the case in Texas but there's no shortage of people in Texas who call themselves engineers but aren't PEs.)
grovesNL|6 years ago
chrisseaton|6 years ago
meagain3|6 years ago
meagain3|6 years ago
inetknght|6 years ago
I honestly think that software "engineers" should be legally liable for the lives at stake though.
deadcat|6 years ago
I'm not an accredited engineer, so I feel I have no right to the title.
It really annoys me that some manages at work call themselves Release Train Engineers.