• cbarrick@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    It’s not restricted in the US.

    If the person is calling themselves a “software developer” instead of a “software engineer” then they almost certainly live some place where “engineer” is a restricted term.

    • theneverfox@pawb.social
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      8 months ago

      No, software developer isn’t a fallback term for software engineer, they have slightly different implications. They’re all very loosely defined so they’re almost interchangeable

      • cbarrick@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        Really? Do you know of a company that has both developers and engineers where the distinction is not location?

        Where I work, we have both, but it’s purely a location thing. In the American offices we’re called “engineers”, yet my coworkers in Canada are called “developers” despite doing the exact same work. We don’t have “developers” in the US.

        • theneverfox@pawb.social
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          8 months ago

          It’s usually one or the other. It just doesn’t matter which one

          At my first job I was on a contract as a software engineer I with the job title junior developer, because that’s just how the titles mapped

    • Telodzrum@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      It’s somewhat restricted. You can’t hold yourself out as a civil engineer without passing the exam, for example. For made up jobs like software “engineer” there are no rules — it’s like the FDA with regard to actual food vs. supplements.