Profession
Legal requirements for the licensing or certification of professional software engineers vary around the world. In the UK, the British Computer Society licenses software engineers and members of the society can also become Chartered Engineers (CEng), while in some areas of Canada, such as Alberta, Ontario, and Quebec, software engineers can hold the Professional Engineer (P.Eng) designation and/or the Information Systems Professional (I.S.P.) designation. In Canada, there is a legal requirement to have P.Eng when one wants to use the title "engineer" or practice "software engineering". In the USA, beginning on 2013, the path for licensure of software engineers will become a reality. As with the other engineering disciplines, the requirements consist of earning an ABET accredited bachelor’s degree in Software Engineering (or any non-ABET degree and NCEES credentials evaluation), passing the Fundamentals of Engineering Exam, having at least four years of demonstrably relevant experience, and passing the Software Engineering PE Exam. In some states, such as Florida, Texas, Washington, and other, software developers cannot use the title "engineer" unless they are licensed professional engineers who have passed the PE Exam and possess a valid licence to practice. This license has to be periodically renewed, which is known as continuous education, to ensure engineers are kept up to date with latest techniques and safest practices.
The IEEE Computer Society and the ACM, the two main professional organizations of software engineering, publish guides to the profession of software engineering. The IEEE's Guide to the Software Engineering Body of Knowledge - 2004 Version, or SWEBOK, defines the field and describes the knowledge the IEEE expects a practicing software engineer to have. Currently a new SWEBOK v3 is being released and we may probably expect it in early 2013. The IEEE also promulgates a "Software Engineering Code of Ethics".
Read more about this topic: Software Engineering
Famous quotes containing the word profession:
“In the case of pirates, say, I would like to know whether that profession of theirs has any peculiar glory about it. It sometimes ends in uncommon elevation, indeed; but only at the gallows.”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)
“Priests and physicians should never look one another in the face. They have no common ground, nor is there any to mediate between them. When the one comes, the other goes. They could not come together without laughter, or a significant silence, for the one’s profession is a satire on the other’s, and either’s success would be the other’s failure.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Motherhood is the second oldest profession in the world. It never questions age, height, religious preference, health, political affiliation, citizenship, morality, ethnic background, marital status, economic level, convenience, or previous experience.”
—Erma Bombeck (20th century)