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The way I heard it the law is only enforced when someone complains, and then only against the person that was complained about. That probably boils down to "not enforced" for most people, though, especially if most of the folks one is dealing with are convinced that software engineering isn't engineering within the meaning of the act.
It's only slightly terrifying that serious legal trouble is plausibly just a public complaint away for me and plenty of other software developers. At least I have the excuse that I don't provide any services to the public whatsoever. 
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The BLS classifies computer software engineer as a computer specialist which is a separate category to engineer. Due to this I believe you might have issues saying you're an "engineer" but not with saying you're a "software engineer." As dumb as that sounds, that seems to be the current state of affairs. Multiple organizations like the NCEES have shut down their software PE testing due to a lack of participation over the years precisely because it isn't required.
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I got my BSME in 89 and passed the EIT. I never did go in for a PE exam. For that reason I don't claim to be a mechanical engineer, only that I have my BS in ME. It was impressed upon me at Purdue that I could not legally use the term 'engineer' until I passed a PE.
This designation is for civil courts only. It isn't breaking the law, but it can make you liable in civil suits against you.
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I guess it depends on the jurisdiction, but here in Texas and most US states, it is illegal and unethical to use the word Engineer in your title without being registered.
I'm a registered Professional Engineer (PE)specifically for Petroleum Engineering, but not for software Engineering.If I claimed to do Software or any other type of Engineering, I could face sanctions and fines.
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In my research the other day I saw legal arguments off aTexas AG website from 2002 where they were arguing that you should not have the word “engineer” on a business card unless you were a PE. I did not track down if there was any final ruling on the matter, it seemed more like a brief.
I guess if you are debugging, you can call yourself a “software surgeon”, “Don’t bother me now, I have a patient on the table.”
😊
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Very little software is engineered, so there are very few actual software engineers; I've certainly never met one.
Software developer is a much more accurate description. Software architect might suffice for some.
(My father was an electronics engineer; he designed military communications systems.)
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Walt, I'm a certifiable computer engineer. Oh wait... 
For what it's worth, I've never heard of a context where a PE certification/registration was relevant to a software engineering position. In point of fact, I'd been under the impression that the PE regulatory bodies vehemently disliked the notion of certifying software professionals, and did not consider what we do to be 'engineering'. We do seem to make a dandy living at it, despite our lack.
If you want to claim software engineering skills, go right ahead. If someone gripes, it won't be us.
Software Zen: delete this;
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It all depends on whether your (potentially unprofessional) work could kill someone, and how that is "managed" (engineered) with respect to responsibility and control of the work.
E.g. the Boeing 737MAX 'software', or the Toyota uncontrolled acceleration, or the London Ambulance service despatch system, or the UK Post Office "Horizon" system (high profile, but few relative to exploding petroleum installations).
Software is difficult to characterised with the old 'physical world' mindset where, for example, the electricians' work can be separated from that of the electrical engineers, but in the logical software world, the developer provides the design drawings(code), which is (essentially) the last touch point before final installation.
However, very little software is a direct killer of the public, especially if it only manipulates logic and data. So, it's going to take a while before the engineering part is cleanly carved out of software development (cf "just coding").
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It's a meaningless title. Might as well be a code monkey, I wouldn't care. As long as the cheque clears.
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If you know how to write and run 'Hello World' in a few programming languages, then you are a Registered Software Engineer.
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No, that makes you an Unregistered Software Executer / Runner, or U.S.E.R.
Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.
-- 6079 Smith W.
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IIRC, this was an idea that became popular in the '90s in certain circles, but never really caught on in the regulatory world. For one thing, "grandfathering" all those who claimed to be software engineers would have made the title meaningless.
I believe that it will happen someday. After all, if certain jurisdictions require passing a test in order to become a hairdresser, why shouldn't commercial software developers have similar requirements? 
Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.
-- 6079 Smith W.
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registered Professional Engineer qualified as a Petroleum Engineer, but under the rules...
Since the other comments have established there is little to no relevant laws, it sounds like these rules are imposed by an independent organization of which you are a member and which holds your petroleum engineer status, no? In which case I have to ask, what's the penalty for breaking said rule? Is your P.E. status under threat? If not, then just add it and claim ignorance if anyone whines later on. But if so, I would say just stick with "software developer" until you find a company who actually cares about such a registration (such a company is probably the only place you will find a registered S.E.), and then bring up this nonsense in the interview, stressing however much experience you have in the field and that you are only lacking an endorsement, and perhaps after a brief probationary/training period, there you go you're registered. I say "interview" because I assume that the only reason you would care about such registration is to pass such a company's hr requirement.
For the record, the term "engineer" to me means that someone who designs engines, which applies to a specific class of software: a black box with a well-defined interface that performs a specific function and can be added to any software that needs such a function. Database engine, physics engine, game engine, search engine etc. The idea is that the specific implementation is difficult to even break down into component parts, and so, the majority of developers who are creating software that use it will be unable or unwilling to break it open to fix or adapt it, so it must be held to a higher standard of adaptability and functionality. So I see the set "software engineers" as a subset of "software developer" that specialize in making libraries.
Definition is in the eye of the beholder. I wouldn't stress over it. In fact, I specifically avoid the word engineer (among other fluff) on my resume, because I don't really want to work for someone who makes decisions based on keywords.
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Memtha wrote: Since the other comments have established there is little to no relevant laws,
That's the $10k question though. Do the engineering licensure requirements written into state law (in the US, they may be at a different level in other countries) apply to people who work in software and choose to call themselves software engineers?
The answer varies some from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, but to my non-lawyerly eye it looks like the answer may well be "Yes" in most or all US States, although lots of developers would probably fall into one of the exceptions written into the various laws and the rest would only be in trouble if someone actually decided to complain to the proper authorities.
You'd have to talk to an actual lawyer to get a really reliable answer, though, preferably one that deals with engineering licensure issues. After all, it doesn't matter what you or I think ought to be the law or what we think the law means. It only matters what the legal system says the law means and will back up with stiff penalties.
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Since "software engineer" isn't a protected term, anyone & their grandma can call themselves one.
I know I do, but not because of any certifications. Rather, because I like engineering software, as well as doing that for a living.
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The law applies to software engineering? I thought it only applied to the types of engineering that could cause physical harm if used improperly - EE, ME, CE, etc. I guess there was a computing option to get the PE but you say that's not offered anymore, so is it still a requirement?
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With a MS/EE focused on control systems and having written CNC machine control software for 30 some years, I believe myself to be an actual Software Engineer. However, I am unregistered, so if I get pulled over I might get impounded.
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A software engineer is one who promotes software engineering standards and uses them within his or her own project development.
This is often done by using such techniques as Function Point Analysis, Risk Assessment Metrics, Deadline Estimation Practices by recalculating such deadlines using various tools and forecasting methods.
True software engineers never agree to hardened deadlines without design and requirement analysis and even then, only best estimates are ever provided.
You don't need a degree or a fancy certificate top call yourself a software engineer because most of what you would learn in a university or the result of obtaining a certificate is often not applicable to the real world...
I have used such practices with excellent success. However, most technical management don't have a clue on how to implement, understand, or use such practices, even highly educated ones, beyond all the ideological buzz-words and paradigms that often are claimed to be engineering practices but have nothing to do with them (ie; Agile).
Steve Naidamast
Sr. Software Engineer
Black Falcon Software, Inc.
blackfalconsoftware@outlook.com
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I've been looking at how best to cut a hole in my case to fit a new 120mm fan - including pricing hole punches and doing a layout in Fusion 360 to find out the "Least metal left" solution for the hole sizes, attacking it with an angle grinder, sourcing fan covers to "cat safe" the new fan, blah, blah, blah.
The side I removed has "cat safe" mesh prefitted over predrilled holes sized and ready to fit a pair of 120mm fans ... 
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
"Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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OriginalGriff wrote: "cat safe" mesh prefitted over predrilled holes sized and ready to fit a pair of 120mm fans
Reminds me of when I started programming in C# and .NET. Time and again I would go back and rip out hundreds of lines of code I'd written, after realizing that .NET already had it.
Software Zen: delete this;
modified 26-Feb-22 17:35pm.
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I once had a project to construct a 6" diameter hole in sheet metal on which to mount a fan to blow out auto exhaust from the garage connected to the exhaust pipe of my garaged car via flexible metal tubing. I drilled a thousand more or less, small holes along the periphery. I don't recall now how I punched out the center disk but it worked out and I kept the disk as a souvenir as I liked how it appeared so I kept it on my desk. - Cheerio
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GTA V was locking the PC sometimes - normally just before the end of a long mission, which is frustrating. Only solution was to turn the power off and back on again.
I noticed that GTA makes it run hotter than normal, which you'd expect - the fan noise increases quite a bit - so I installed software to monitor it, and the processor junction temp was getting to mid / high 80s. High ish, but not outside specs - and it does kinda point at a heat problem somewhere.
Remember, I changed the M/B, Processor, and RAM only, and added a second SSD (which is still empty, I'll move Win 11 to it when I do a fresh install).
So I had a think and came up with possibilities:
1) The processor heatsink / thermal paste.
2) The GPU.
3) PSU
4) Other.
The first one is unlikely, I thought - quit the game and the temperatures dropped very quickly so the thermal management of the processor itself seems to be pretty good. Even high 80s are within Intel specs, so ... not that.
The second. Hmm ... it was working fine in the old configuration, with a lower spec processor - i5 instead of i7 running at a lot lower speed - so it's possible but unlikely to be the direct culprit. A GPU temperature monitor says it got up to low 70's, and dropped to below 50 pretty quickly afterwards. Probably not a problem.
The third. Probably not, it's new(ish) well under the max rating (just over 1/2 with the uprated CPU) and a voltage check says all is stable.
The fourth ... What if it's the case? If the processor is putting out more heat (which it is, loads more) then if that hot air isn't getting out then the heat could be building up and effecting the ram, or MB, or ... anything I can't read a temperature off of.
So, take the case side off and see what happens.
CPU: low 70s, GPU: high 60's, GTA no crashes so far.
Probably the heat management with the i5 was on the marginal side, and the i& has just pushed it over the edge.
Well ... Change the case fan for a higher CFM one, or ... make a big hole in the top (where there are no components) and fit a second case fan to exhaust hot air that way - since hot air rises, that's probably the most efficient way to do it.
Makes sense to me! Where's me big drill ... 
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
"Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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Gosh, I was just dealing with a similar problem because of my upgrade. In my case it was the PSU. I spent good money finding that out.
To err is human. Fortune favors the monsters.
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