Why do Google, Facebook, Amazon, etc Call Computer Science Degree Holders Engineers?

It can get a little confusing, especially for students selecting a college major, applying for internships, and jobs. Here's my take on this question:

Software engineering is the disciplined approach to designing, building, and maintaining software systems through systematic methodologies, architectural planning, and rigorous testing practices. The engineering designation reflects the application of computer science principles to practical problem-solving under real-world constraints. Unlike pure computer science, which centers on theoretical foundations and algorithm analysis, software engineering encompasses:

 

·      Systems architecture - Designing complex, distributed systems with considerations for scalability, reliability, and performance metrics (latency, throughput, etc.)

·      Technical debt management - Making strategic implementation decisions that balance short-term delivery with long-term maintainability

·      Production engineering - Implementing fault-tolerant systems with proper error handling, monitoring, logging, and recovery mechanisms

·      Resource optimization - Operating within hardware constraints (CPU, memory, network, storage) while meeting Service Level Agreements (SLAs)

·      Engineering tradeoffs - Making calculated decisions between competing factors like development time, operational complexity, and performance characteristics

·      Design patterns implementation - Applying established patterns to solve recurring challenges

·      Cross-functional integration - Working at abstraction boundaries between different system components, often requiring knowledge of multiple domains

 

The title reflects the application of engineering methodologies in code development rather than simply implementing algorithms. This includes requirements analysis, system design documentation, testing strategies, deployment planning, and operational considerations—all core engineering disciplines applied to the software development world. 

 

And yeah – in some ways the title "engineer" is used by tech companies like Google, Facebook, and Amazon for strategic reasons when hiring computer science graduates. Think of it like how some coffee shops call their workers "baristas" instead of "coffee makers" - it's partly about perception and partly about reflecting that the job involves skill and craft.