Today software developers are needed all around the world. Every single software industry needs its raw material, but are they really looking for engineers? Or they just need someone who can understand and complete the job?
Since the growth of scientific knowledge, new disciplines are required to study the effects and discoveries of it. Software engineering is the last one according to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers(IEEE). As its partners, Software engineering uses principles to solve software problems, in other words, engineers usually develop and maintain the software in accordance to the specifications of the clients.(ACM , 2013)
But what about the people that learn by themselves? Why do we need to study for so long if we can become “pro” programmers with a little bit of effort? Craftsmen can be as good as engineers, and even better.
I have always thought that effort and passion is the key of everything. By being an engineer, you will have the knowledge of analyzing the problems in a more complex way and plan it before doing it, but it will never determine your abilities in software development; the reason? You may have the knowledge, but not the skills.
The complexity in software development is knowing and progressing. Every single program that has been developed has an update; and that is what people should do. We need to improve our skills by practicing and making updates to ourselves. Being an engineer is just the first part, we also need to learn how to be craftsmen, and transform our knowledge and skills into a piece of art, or what many may call, software.
References:
Association for Computing Machinery. Software Engineering. (2013). Retrieved August 15, 2016, from http://computingcareers.acm.org/?page_id=12
