Why Developer Certification Doesn’t Make Sense

Much as been said about the pros and cons of requiring software engineers to be certified, just like the medical, law, and engineering fields.

I personally do not believe this should happen. First of all, those other, certified, fields have existed for thousands of years. Computer Science is not even a century old. The field is incredibly immature. Sure, we have fancier tools, and we can do some amazing things, but we’re still in infancy!

Look at the best software makers you can think of. I won’t name names. Think of the highest quality applications you have ever used. Now think of all the problems and bugs and limitations of that software. If that’s the best we can do, what meaning does certification have?

All the other certified fields have well-established standards that have withstood the tests of time. Computer Science hasn’t had the time. We can’t even agree on the best way to make software!

So go ahead and enforce certification now, but it’s not going to mean anything.