NYCPHP Meetup

[Chris Shiflett]

inforequest wrote:
> You do not need permission to call yourself an architect, but you
> do need a license to call yourself a Professional Engineer.

That's why it's Professional Engineer instead of Engineer. PE is like 
MCSE or ZCE, although it's obviously much more respected (and difficult 
to achieve).

> You similarly cannot claim to be a Lawyer, or a Doctor unless you
> are licensed to practice.

Tell that to the PhDs. :-)

> Now Engineers are not a very litigious group by nature, so plenty
> of people put "engineer" and even "Engineer" on their business
> cards. The Professional Engineers have a legal basis for preventing
> others from conducting commerce as Engineers/Engineering. It is
> widely reported that using the "little e" version of engineer is
> tolerated.

They have no choice but to tolerate the use of the word. People have 
tried to trademark words before (the guy who trademarked stealth, for 
example), but I think most people, like me, just think that's silly.

> Those are not typical programmers or developers, however, and they
> are usually Ph.D. level scientists who have in fact received
> equivalent training. I don't see them calling themselves Software
> Engineers though.

Most prefer the term computer scientist, I think. Software engineering 
is a subset of computer science.

Chris

-- 
Chris Shiflett
Brain Bulb, The PHP Consultancy
http://brainbulb.com/