Some argue that software engineering is not computer science - and that it is not even engineering. And, maybe because of this, some call them “Developers”.
The argument that software engineering is not engineering, as far as I’ve heard, usually is based on that software engineers do not build bridges, design airplanes or are responsible for structures that involve human lives and major risks.
Engineering is described by Sommerville in his book Software engineering as “the practice of constructing using the scientific method.”
Earlier, already in 1920s, Charles Horton wrote in Opportunities in engineering:
The profession of engineering – which, by the way, is merely the adapting of discoveries in scienceand art to the uses of mankind – is a peculiarly isolated one.
Who is that? I have no clue. I just found his book on the Gutenberg project and was curious. He also reflected on two kinds of engineers when talking about steam engines: those that operate them and those that design them.
Software engineering by the Association for Computing Machinery (2018):
It integrates significant mathematics, computer science and practices whose origins are in engineering.
Or wikipedia:
Engineering is the practice of systematically applying natural science and mathematics to design and improve systems, devices, or processes that solve problems under constraints.
Hence, when someone is working on a program, using mathematics, evaluating and converging results by interpreting empirical results in a scientific manner, they are being engineers.
There are always those trying to feel their way in the world by belittling others or elevating their own status. For example, some people call themselves musicians, because they’ve once played a gig or engineers when they wrote a short piece in a markup language – on the other hand I used to joke as a drummer, that I’m not a real musician or that once, in the 90s, we locked the keys in the band’s van and it took hours to teach our bass player to get out.
In any case, I don’t think labelling software engineers as engineers brings any particular prestige to that profession. I mean, who knows what it’s going to be in a few years. It’s just more fitting to call them that than not to.