I agree with both of you, and feel pretty strongly (without any real concrete evidence, but with lots of anecdotal personal experience to back it up) that the vast majority of pro coders are software developers but by no means software engineers. I personally put &quot;Software Developer&quot; on my resume&#x2F;linkedin for all of my dev jobs, regardless of what my employer&#x2F;client calls the position.<p>On the whole engineering vs developing thing I think that dev is still in its infancy. Professional certs that are really meaningful and indicate some level of knowledge on various dev subjects would be a good baseline in the future, IMO. In Canada, to be a P.Eng. (<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Regulation_and_licensure_in_engineering#Canada" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Regulation_and_licensure_in_en...</a>) one must, by law, be licensed.<p>From that link:<p>&gt; The regulation and licensing of engineers are accomplished through a self-governing body that is given the power to license and discipline professional engineers, as well as regulate the practice of the professional engineers...<p>&gt; <i>A self-governing body&#x27;s prime purpose is to protect the public.</i>