Are software engineers really engineers?
Summary
Software engineers ARE legitimate engineers—a claim validated by comparing engineering principles from foundational textbooks to software development practices. By studying formal engineering literature and interviewing professionals who worked in both fields, one creator overcame industry skepticism and discovered striking methodological similarities.
Key Takeaways
- Validate your profession's legitimacy by comparing practices against established field standards. Glenn Vanderburg's approach of reading engineering books and directly comparing methodologies provides a replicable framework for establishing credibility.
- Seek validation from practitioners with dual expertise. Interviewing people who have worked in both software and traditional engineering provides stronger evidence than theoretical arguments alone.
- Challenge your own assumptions systematically. The speaker initially dismissed software as non-engineering, then changed their position after rigorous investigation—demonstrating intellectual flexibility that's essential for growth.
- Use comparative analysis across disciplines to establish credibility. Finding structural similarities between established engineering practices and software development helps legitimize the field and your work within it.
Related topics
Transcript Excerpt
I thought we were not engineers, we didn't deserve to call ourselves engineering anything like that. Then I found this talk by Glenn Vanderburg where what he did was he read a bunch of engineering books [music] and compared them to what we do in software. And he said, "Actually, this looks really similar to what we do in software." And I thought, "That can't be right. I need something more rigorous. I'm going to have to talk to people who did both engineering and software development and see what they say." And they [music] all agreed with him. So, I was wrong. We're engineers.…