NYCPHP Meetup

[inforequest]

Daniel Krook krook-at-us.ibm.com |nyphp dev/internal group use| wrote:

>The next logical step in this debate is whether Information Architects or 
>Software Architects truly are.
>
>Of course, those two roles have more right to the word "architecture" than 
>building architects who claim that they've "built" a structure have a 
>right to that word, annoying those of us who did at one time wield a 
>hammer, nails and Sawzalls for a living.   : )
>  
>

Well, the legal argument surrounds licensing. An architect is not 
licensed by the government (but his buildings have to be signed off by a 
licensed Professional Engineer before they can be built, and again 
before they can be occupied by the public.. and a few additional times 
for the heating/AC systems, plumbing, etc). You do not need permission 
to call yourself an architect, but you do need a license to call 
yourself a Professional Engineer. You similarly cannot claim to be a 
Lawyer, or a Doctor unless you are licensed to practice.

And to get that license you need to complete a degree program from a 
school accredited by the Engineering accrediting group. And then take 
two different 8 hour tests, usually years apart. The first is a 
comprehensive test covering 4 years of engineering school (across 
several engineering disciplines, even if you only studied one of those). 
The second is based on practice, and is only offered to you after you 
have completed a certain amount of real-world engineering work and at 
least one licensed PE signs an affidavit  that you did indeed do that 
work and it was quality work. That second test is practical engineering 
work in your discipline. Pass them both and you get to call yourself a 
Professional Engineer.

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.

Now Realtor is not a real word... it was made up as a trademark. The 
Realtors litigate that one seriously, so no, unless you are a member of 
the Realtor association (not a government license.. just a trade group) 
you cannot call your self a Realtor.

I have a Bachelor of Engineering from an accredited school, a Masters 
Degree in Engineerng Science and was a candidate for the Ph.D. in 
Electrical Engineering at an accredited school. I doubt I could ever 
have done numerical algorithms or digital signal processing work (all 
code) without a very serious math/science/engineering education, but 
some CIS guys are amazing and certainly equivalent to Engineers in their 
analytical and problem solving skills. 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.

-=john andrews
http://www.seo-fun.com