[NTLUG:Discuss] Re: Software engineer? -- private negligence != criminal negligence

[Bryan J. Smith]

On Mon, 2004-08-02 at 10:40, Greg Edwards wrote:
> Actually the issue of being held accountable for the end results has 
> been better established than most people in our industry realize.
> When you work as a Consultant or Contractor E&O (Errors and Omissions) 
> insurance is an issue.  If you work for a consulting agency, as a W2 
> employee, they carry the insurance for you.  As an independent you have 
> to carry your own.  When you work for a company the liability falls 
> under the product sold by the company.

Don't confuse _private_ liability with _public_ liability.
You can lodge a complaint againt a licensed PE with the state BoPE.
Depending on the circumstances, he/she can be held _criminally_
negligent.

_Huge_ difference.

BTW, don't forget that it's not so much about "good'ole boys" wanting to
call themselves engineers or not.  It's about public trusts.  The state
BoPEs don't start suing Microsoft, Novell and others _until_ the number
of complaints from _private_citizens_ gets high enough that it becomes
an issue for them to care -- or, worse yet, someone gets mamed or
killed.

Again.  No one is "anal" on the use of the title of "engineer."  But
because people _have_ died as a result of lack of adherence to code and
laws, more and more public works are requiring PEs for software
engineering work.  Software controls everything these days, so it was
only a matter of time.

May the BoPEs "wake up" sooner than later.

> One of the major problems with the arguments made about registering 
> Software Engineers and applying a licensing mechanism like other 
> Engineering disciplines is that software design is not a static process. 
>   Every solution has the potential to be unique and new so it doesn't 
> fit in a box of rules like doing a stress analysis on a bridge.
> Computer Science is older than Software Engineering as a recognized 
> discipline and you'll find that most Software Engineers, that have been 
> at this for more than 7-8 years, have a Computer Science base.  Computer 
> Scientists that wanted to do algorithm research and theory followed the 
> R&D tract and those that wanted to apply followed the engineering tract.

Software Engineering and Computer Science are _very_different_.
One has an engineering core.  One does not.

If the Computer Science program does indeed have an engineering core, it
is no longer a BSCS, but a BSCSE (Computer Science Engineering).


-- 
Engineers scoff at me because I have IT certifications
 IT Pros scoff at me because I am a degreed engineer
    I see and understand both of their viewpoints
  Unfortunately Engineers and IT Pros only see in me
       what they dislike about the other trade
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Bryan J. Smith                      b.j.smith at ieee.org