As we live through the Digital Revolution I see software development in a similar place, professionally, as mechanical engineering was at the turn of the last century. My hope is that soon we will see software engineering attaining the same status as other engineering disciplines so that we can deliver software as respected professionals, but first that will require us to act more professionally.
The way we get such a status will undoubtedly be incrementally and though many iterations – that’s as much what engineering is about as the practical application of learning – but I believe for many software developers the next iteration should be to bring professionalism to their industry.