I'd say the core of what engineering is, is building something according to formal specifications and well-defined error-rates and constraints. It need not be mathematical in nature but it has to be strict and measurable. And as a consequence, almost any engineering discipline has well-defined methodologies and processes, and engineers are formally trained.
I think this is in line with the intuition of the article. Someone who writes software for a spacecraft is an engineer because they work within extremely well defined limits and towards strictly enforced specifications. People who write software for the military or who write compilers probably do too.
I don't think this applies to how most software developers work when it comes to the web or just your average project. There is in my experience no rigor of that sort. People just write code, and sure there's performance considerations but usually not in a systematic way, and it's often more tinkering than engineering.
I think this is in line with the intuition of the article. Someone who writes software for a spacecraft is an engineer because they work within extremely well defined limits and towards strictly enforced specifications. People who write software for the military or who write compilers probably do too.
I don't think this applies to how most software developers work when it comes to the web or just your average project. There is in my experience no rigor of that sort. People just write code, and sure there's performance considerations but usually not in a systematic way, and it's often more tinkering than engineering.