Remember that you are also collecting the responsibility of 10 and the pay of 1.
this post was submitted on 31 Jul 2026
347 points (99.4% liked)
Programmer Humor
32551 readers
2056 users here now
Welcome to Programmer Humor!
This is a place where you can post jokes, memes, humor, etc. related to programming!
For sharing awful code theres also Programming Horror.
Rules
- Keep content in english
- No advertisements
- Posts must be related to programming or programmer topics
founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
top 23 comments
sorted by:
hot
top
controversial
new
old
Not even. Your job isn’t to protect prod, it’s to take the blame when prod goes down.
Mixed feelings because obviously studying for a degree implies maths and sciences which does qualify you as an engineer, but imo "software engineer" isn't a real thing. You're either a computer engineer or a code monkey.
I can tell you have a bachelor's of engineering. Not because I think you're being elitist. But because you haven't yet figured out that words are fluid and don't follow strict rules like systems do.
English is hard.
I have a B.E. as well. It took me years to word good.
As a mechanical engineer: if a software engineer completed school, they're an engineer, deal with it. We're not talking about someone that doesn't know what they're doing cobbing things together for 1-off demos like Michael Reeves
Random insult to a guy that does entertainment quite well. Am I reading too much into it or are you randomly extra pissed?
I get your point but I'm not going to pull out my whole resume when, at the end of the day, I write software for a living.
Programmer is shorter and more honest than software engineer, tho
Do... Do you think software on its own needs no engineering?
If I say please build me a webshop from scratch, do I need a "computer engineer" which presumingly includes hardware knowledge by your distinction? Probably not. Is a code monkey going to build me the website? Also probably not.
So somewhere inbetween the two, you probably need a position that can engineer complex pieces of computer code, along with its design and architecture - we could even call it something short, like a software engineer or something
It's not a real thing because it's virtual? Or not being regulated makes it not a real thing?
I only consider Engineering to be the application of math and science to plan complex systems or structures.
If a person is doing that as a programmer then they have to already understand computer architecture to a bare minimum of how memory works physically, processor functionality, and discreet mathematics: which makes them a computer engineer.
If a person completely lacks understanding of math or physics behind the machines they code for then I don't care how complicated their derivative work is: it is not engineering. Much like how painting is not engineering nor is balancing a stack of rocks.
any computer science course teaches those things
Your opinion is bad then. And I realize the irony of saying that with my username.
maybe on krypton code monkeys are licensed and everyone else is just doing engineering
"Software engineer" will be a thing when it's licensed by the state. Until then, we're all just glorified cowboy-coders with no accountability.
(Speaking as computer programmer with an EIT in a different field.)
Yeah, I moved into software from electrical engineering. “Software engineers” are rarely doing engineering. Though, weirdly, the LLM-assisted coding methods seems to be leading to more of a focus on specs, design documents, and testing methodology, which almost makes it more like actual engineering.
IIRC you can't actually use the title "Engineer" prefixed or not without having a P.Eng license here in Canada. Of course, that didn't stop my previous American employers from giving me the title of Software Engineer but it's not supposed to be allowed
Yeah, I've looked it up and this is definitely the case, I've also had both Canadian and American employers refer to my position this way continuously with no repercussions (I similarly have an engineering degree in another field and was an eit and am now in software).
It's weird because if the provincial engineering societies were serious about enforcing their rules, it would take them ZERO effort to find thousands and thousands and thousands of violations through like a single LinkedIn search. The fact that they dont put in such a minimal amount of effort kind of signals they don't care about the rule.
Wait, are you a Someordinarygamer fan?