In The Craft of Programming AlanCooper discuss about if we as programmers are engineers or artisans.
He concludes that contrary what of what we think, we are more artisans than engineers, and this is the origin of a series of problems. See how he finished the article:
"Our misuse of language and titles gives programmers license to let practical construction imperatives slip by and to focus instead on in vitro problem solving. Examining software in the light of the confusion between craft and engineering brings previously obscured causes of many common problems and their solutions into clarity. Unlike engineers, craftsmen create commercial software, and they need design plans and supervision to yield the results expected of them. Good engineers love their work because they love to solve difficult problems. Good craftsmen love their work because they love to make things. Good programmers must do both, but they're judged ultimately on the efficacy of what they make, not on the cleverness with which they make it."