Profession Defined

Considering the disparity between the best software organizations and the worst, the current challenge is not so much to advance the state of the art as it is to raise the average level of practice. The new world has been adequately explored; it's time to start colonizing. The traditional means of raising the level of practice in a field, especially one that affects the public welfare, is through establishment of a formal profession.

Although the term is often used casually, the notion of a "profession" has a long and well-defined legal standing. The Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) in the United States says that a person employed in a "professional capacity" can be distinguished by several characteristics.

A professional's work typically requires advanced knowledge in science or a field of learning that is acquired through a prolonged course of specialized study. The CFR distinguishes this from a general academic education. It also distinguishes it from training in routine processes, whether they be mental, manual, or physical. The CFR goes on to note that professional work can be creative and artistic. The work may depend primarily on the inventiveness, imagination, or talent of the person doing the work.

The CFR states that professional work requires the consistent exercise of discretion and judgment in its performance. The work is predominantly intellectual and varied in character. The CFR again differentiates this from routine mental, manual, or physical work.

Most software developers will recognize characteristics of their own work in the CFR's description of a profession. The work certainly requires advanced knowledge (detailed technical knowledge, anyway), and it benefits from specialized instruction and study. Software development contains a significant creative element, and clearly calls for a great deal of discretion and judgment. In short, the work performed by software developers seems clearly to meet the definition of "professional work" as defined in the CFR.

The CFR contributes part of the legal definition of a profession. The body of legal precedents (court cases) establish a slightly different but complementary definition. According to legal precedents, a profession has:[1]

  • A requirement for extensive learning and training

  • A code of ethics imposing standards higher than those normally tolerated in the marketplace

  • A disciplinary system for professionals who breach the code

  • A primary emphasis on social responsibility over strictly individual gain, and a corresponding duty of its members to behave as members of a disciplined and honorable profession

  • A prerequisite of a license prior to admission to practice

How well does software rate according to these criteria?



Professional Software Development(c) Shorter Schedules, Higher Quality Products, More Successful Projects, [... ]reers
Professional Software Development(c) Shorter Schedules, Higher Quality Products, More Successful Projects, [... ]reers
ISBN: N/A
EAN: N/A
Year: 2005
Pages: 164

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