The Licensing and Certification of Software Professionals

1
The Licensing and Certification of Software
Professionals

• CSSE 372, Software Project Management
• Don Bagert, P.E.
• Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
• February 2, 2006

2
Lecture Source

• Licensing and Certification of Software
  Professionals by Donald J. Bagert, published in
  Advances in Computers, Volume 60 (April 2004),
  Elsevier Press, pp. 1-34.

3
Outline

• Introduction
• The Licensing of Software Engineers
• The Certification of Software Developers

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Introduction
5
Terminology

• Certification is a voluntary process intended to
  document the achievement of some level of skill
  or capability.
• Licensing is a more formal version of
  certification that involves a government-sanctione
  d or government-specified process, with the
  health, safety and welfare of the public in mind.

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Defining an Area of Competency

• Body of Knowledge
• Education Training
• Code of Ethics

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Certification and Licensing Procedure

• Includes a combination of one or more of the
  following
• Educational Background
• Work Experience
• Professional References
• Passing of Examinations
• Commitment to the Code of Ethics
• Payment of Fees

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Renewal

• Licenses or Certificates generally expire after
  one or more years.
• Renewal is usually not as rigorous as the
  original procedure
• Includes renewal fees, of course P
• Evidence of continuing education (lifelong
  learning) during the last licensing/
  certification period may also be required

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Types of Certification Programs

• National Certification
• Institute-Based Certification
• Company-Based Certification

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Comparison of Licensing and Certification
Features - 1/2
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Comparison of Licensing and Certification
Features - 2/2
12
The Licensing of Software Engineers
13
Legal Jurisdictions

• Varies by country
• In the United States and Canada, licensing is
  left to the states and provinces, respectively

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Licensing of Engineers in U.S.

• All 50 states licenses Professional Engineers
  (PEs)
• Engineering licensing statutes emphasize
  protecting the health, safety and welfare of
  the public
• In 1998, Texas becomes the first state to license
  software engineers
• Don Bagert first licensed (September 4)
• Illinois current status unknown

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Usual State PE Licensing Process

• Graduation from an ABET-accredited engineering
  program (currently 10 accredited program)
• Passage of the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE)
  exam
• Four of more or years of work under a licensed PE
• Passage of a Principles and Practices of
  Engineering (PP) exam, an ethics and
  professional practices exam, and some references
  (including from PEs)

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Licensing of Software Engineers in Canada

• At least three provinces (Alberta, British
  Columbia and Ontario) license software engineers
• Exams are only required of those without an
  accredited SE program (there are currently 7)
• Software engineering exam outline is at
  http//www.ccpe.ca/e/files/syllabus_4_19.pdf

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Controversy about the Licensing of Software
Engineers 1/3

• Software Engineering Education Coordinating
  Committee (SWECC) and its ad hoc predecessor
  committee
• Guide to the SE Body of Knowledge (SWEBOK)
• SE Undergraduate Curriculum Model
• SE Code of Ethics
• So, this could pave the way to licensing

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Controversy about the Licensing of Software
Engineers 2/3

• However, many in ACM were (and are) very
  distrustful of licensing some of those are
  against licensing of any profession
• SWEBOK could pave the way to licensing
• There were (and are) also concerns about
  software malpractice suits
• Others said that there was currently no
  application-independent SE body of knowledge
  (more about this later)

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Controversy about the Licensing of Software
Engineers 3/3

• ACM
• Comes out against licensing of software engineers
  (1999)
• Pulls out of the SWEBOK project (feeling it is
  too associated with licensing) and of SWECC
  itself (2000)
• http//www.acm.org/serving/se_policy/
• SWEBOK completed by IEEE-CS alone in 2001 (now in
  second version)

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The Certification of Software Developers
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National Certification Countries

• United Kingdom (first)
• British Computer Society (under Royal Charter)
• Chartered Engineer
• Australia
• Engineers Australia (formerly IEAust)
• Chartered Professional Engineer (CPEng)
• Ireland
• Engineers Ireland (formerly Institution of
  Engineers)
• Chartered Engineer

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Institute-Based Certification Examples 1/3

• IEEE-CS Certified Software Development
  Professional (CSDP) http//www.computer.org/certif
  ication
• Requires 9,000 hours of experience, exam
• An exam for graduating SE majors which would be
  similar to the FE exam is being considered

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Institute-Based Certification Examples 2/3

• American Society for Quality (ASQ)
  http//www.asq.org
• Certified Software Quality Engineer
• http//www.asq.org/certification/docs/csqe_brochu
  re.pdf

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Institute-Based Certification Examples 3/3

• Institute for Certification of Computing
  Professionals (ICCP) http//www.iccp.org
• The outline of the ICCP software engineering
  specialty exam looks a lot like SWEBOK, despite
  ACM being an ICCP constituent society!

25
Company-Based Certifications

• Example - Microsoft
• Microsoft Certified Software Developer (MCSD)
• Microsoft Certified Application Developer (MCSA)
• Comparison of the two at http//www.microsoft.com/
  learning/mcp/mcad/compare.asp