1. The Code contains eight Principles related to the behavior of and decisions made by professional software engineers, including practitioners, educators, managers, supervisors and policy makers, as well as trainees and students of the profession.
2. Attract potential software engineers only by full and accurate description of the conditions of employment.
3. In particular, software engineers shall continually endeavor to:Further their knowledge of developments in the analysis, specification, design, development, maintenance and testing of software and related documents, together with the management of the development process.
4. In particular, software engineers shall, as appropriate:Temper all technical judgments by the need to support and maintain human values.
5. Take responsibility for detecting, correcting, and reporting errors in software and associated documents on which they work.
6. Ensure that there is a fair agreement concerning ownership of any software, processes, research, writing, or other intellectual property to which a software engineer has contributed.
7. s humanity, in special care owed to people affected by the work of software engineers, and the unique elements of the practice of software engineering.
8. Disclose to appropriate persons or authorities any actual or potential danger to the user, the public, or the environment, that they reasonably believe to be associated with software or related documents.
9. As this Code expresses the consensus of the profession on ethical issues, it is a means to educate both the public and aspiring professionals about the ethical obligations of all software engineers.
10. Treat all forms of software maintenance with the same professionalism as new development.
1. Ensure that they are qualified for any project on which they work or propose to work by an appropriate combination of education and training, and experience.
2. Keep private any confidential information gained in their professional work, where such confidentiality is consistent with the public interest and consistent with the law.
3. Ensure proper and achievable goals and objectives for any project on which they work or propose.
4. Improve their knowledge of this Code, its interpretation, and its application to their work.
5. Ensure adequate documentation, including significant problems discovered and solutions adopted, for any project on which they work.
6. Strive to fully understand the specifications for software on which they work.
7. s humanity, in special care owed to people affected by the work of software engineers, and the unique elements of the practice of software engineering.
8. Review the work of others in an objective, candid, and properly-documented way.
9. Ensure realistic quantitative estimates of cost, scheduling, personnel, quality and outcomes on any project on which they work or propose to work and provide an uncertainty assessment of these estimates.
10. Accept no outside work detrimental to the work they perform for their primary employer.
1. Support, as members of a profession, other software engineers striving to follow this Code.
2. However, even in this generality, the Code provides support for software engineers and managers of software engineers who need to take positive action in a specific case by documenting the ethical stance of the profession.
3. To ensure, as much as possible, that their efforts will be used for good, software engineers must commit themselves to making software engineering a beneficial and respected profession.
4. As this Code expresses the consensus of the profession on ethical issues, it is a means to educate both the public and aspiring professionals about the ethical obligations of all software engineers.
5. In particular, software engineers shall, as appropriate:Temper all technical judgments by the need to support and maintain human values.
6. Ensure that software engineers know the employer's policies and procedures for protecting passwords, files and information that is confidential to the employer or confidential to others.
7. Ensure that software engineers are informed of standards before being held to them.
8. Software engineers are those who contribute by direct participation or by teaching, to the analysis, specification, design, development, certification, maintenance and testing of software systems.
9. In particular, software engineers shall continually endeavor to:Further their knowledge of developments in the analysis, specification, design, development, maintenance and testing of software and related documents, together with the management of the development process.
10. s humanity, in special care owed to people affected by the work of software engineers, and the unique elements of the practice of software engineering.
1. It is not intended that the individual parts of the Code be used in isolation to justify errors of omission or commission.
2. Ensure that clients, employers, and supervisors know of the software engineer's commitment to this Code of ethics, and the subsequent ramifications of such commitment.
3. Recognize that personal violations of this Code are inconsistent with being a professional software engineer.
4. Not influence others to undertake any action that involves a breach of this Code.
5. Express concerns to the people involved when significant violations of this Code are detected unless this is impossible, counter-productive, or dangerous.
6. The Code helps to define those actions that are ethically improper to request of a software engineer or teams of software engineers.
7. Provide for due process in hearing charges of violation of an employer's policy or of this Code.
8. Support, as members of a profession, other software engineers striving to follow this Code.
9. In accordance with that commitment, software engineers shall adhere to the following Code of Ethics and Professional Practice.
10. The Code prescribes these as obligations of anyone claiming to be or aspiring to be a software engineer.
1. Not punish anyone for expressing ethical concerns about a project.
2. Ethical tensions can best be addressed by thoughtful consideration of fundamental principles, rather than blind reliance on detailed regulations.
3. In particular, software engineers shall, as appropriate:Help develop an organizational environment favorable to acting ethically.
4. The Code helps to define those actions that are ethically improper to request of a software engineer or teams of software engineers.
5. Be careful to use only accurate data derived by ethical and lawful means, and use it only in ways properly authorized.
6. Principle 5: MANAGEMENTSoftware engineering managers and leaders shall subscribe to and promote an ethical approach to the management of software development and maintenance .
7. As this Code expresses the consensus of the profession on ethical issues, it is a means to educate both the public and aspiring professionals about the ethical obligations of all software engineers.
8. Work to follow professional standards, when available, that are most appropriate for the task at hand, departing from these only when ethically or technically justified.
9. However, even in this generality, the Code provides support for software engineers and managers of software engineers who need to take positive action in a specific case by documenting the ethical stance of the profession.
10. Identify, define and address ethical, economic, cultural, legal and environmental issues related to work projects.