1. Refuse to participate, as members or advisors, in a private, governmental or professional body concerned with software related issues, in which they, their employers or their clients have undisclosed potential conflicts of interest.
2. Approve software only if they have a well-founded belief that it is safe, meets specifications, passes appropriate tests, and does not diminish quality of life, diminish privacy or harm the environment.
3. In particular, software engineers shall, as appropriate:Strive for high quality, acceptable cost and a reasonable schedule, ensuring significant tradeoffs are clear to and accepted by the employer and the client, and are available for consideration by the user and the public.
4. 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.
5. Not knowingly use software that is obtained or retained either illegally or unethically.
6. These situations require the software engineer to use ethical judgment to act in a manner which is most consistent with the spirit of the Code of Ethics and Professional Practice, given the circumstances.
7. 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.
8. Ensure adequate testing, debugging, and review of software and related documents on which they work.
9. The dynamic and demanding context of software engineering requires a code that is adaptable and relevant to new situations as they occur.
10. The Code helps to define those actions that are ethically improper to request of a software engineer or teams of software engineers.
1. Identify, define and address ethical, economic, cultural, legal and environmental issues related to work projects.
2. 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.
3. Accept no outside work detrimental to the work they perform for their primary employer.
4. Improve their understanding of the software and related documents on which they work and of the environment in which they will be used.
5. Ensure adequate testing, debugging, and review of software and related documents on which they work.
6. Improve their knowledge of relevant standards and the law governing the software and related documents on which they work.
7. Assist colleagues in being fully aware of current standard work practices including policies and procedures for protecting passwords, files and other confidential information, and security measures in general.
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. Ensure adequate documentation, including significant problems discovered and solutions adopted, for any project on which they work.
10. 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.
1. Attract potential software engineers only by full and accurate description of the conditions of employment.
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. 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, those managing or leading software engineers shall, as appropriate:Ensure good management for any project on which they work, including effective procedures for promotion of quality and reduction of risk.
5. In particular, software engineers shall, as appropriate:Help develop an organizational environment favorable to acting ethically.
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. 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.
8. The Code helps to define those actions that are ethically improper to request of a software engineer or teams of software engineers.
9. Principle 8: SELFSoftware engineers shall participate in lifelong learning regarding the practice of their profession and shall promote an ethical approach to the practice of the profession.
10. Not unfairly intervene in the career of any colleague; however, concern for the employer, the client or public interest may compel software engineers, in good faith, to question the competence of a colleague.
1. Software Engineering Code of Ethics and Professional Practice (Full Version)PREAMBLEComputers have a central and growing role in commerce, industry, government, medicine, education, entertainment and society at large.
2. Not ask a software engineer to do anything inconsistent with this Code.
3. Not influence others to undertake any action that involves a breach of this Code.
4. 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.
5. Provide for due process in hearing charges of violation of an employer's policy or of this Code.
6. The Code provides an ethical foundation to which individuals within teams and the team as a whole can appeal.
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. Avoid associations with businesses and organizations which are in conflict with this code.
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. Support, as members of a profession, other software engineers striving to follow this Code.
1. Identify, define and address ethical, economic, cultural, legal and environmental issues related to work projects.
2. Not punish anyone for expressing ethical concerns about a project.
3. These situations require the software engineer to use ethical judgment to act in a manner which is most consistent with the spirit of the Code of Ethics and Professional Practice, given the circumstances.
4. Be careful to use only accurate data derived by ethical and lawful means, and use it only in ways properly authorized.
5. 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.
6. Principle 8: SELFSoftware engineers shall participate in lifelong learning regarding the practice of their profession and shall promote an ethical approach to the practice of the profession.
7. Ethical tensions can best be addressed by thoughtful consideration of fundamental principles, rather than blind reliance on detailed regulations.
8. The Code provides an ethical foundation to which individuals within teams and the team as a whole can appeal.
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. The Code is not a simple ethical algorithm that generates ethical decisions.