The context of his response was that there is this belief on HN that "programmer" is a title reserved for certain people, and that belief is often predicated on an erroneous/incomplete understanding of his writing.
I think this kind of quibbling has more merit around the title Engineer. A lot of people casually call themselves Engineers, including programmers and the guy who replaces your smoke alarm. It is actually a protected title in some regions.
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The context of his response was that there is this belief on HN that "programmer" is a title reserved for certain people, and that belief is often predicated on an erroneous/incomplete understanding of his writing.
I think this kind of quibbling has more merit around the title Engineer. A lot of people casually call themselves Engineers, including programmers and the guy who replaces your smoke alarm. It is actually a protected title in some regions.