What makes software development engineering

The article explores what distinguishes software development as "engineering" compared to other fields, noting that the title "software engineer" carries more professional prestige than terms like "programmer" or "developer." It traces the origins of software engineering as a discipline to the 1968 NATO Software Engineering Conference, which aimed to apply systematic, mathematical, and scientific approaches to software development similar to traditional engineering disciplines. The article suggests that true software engineering requires processes that don't depend on individual brilliance, distinguishing it from ad-hoc coding practices.