1. 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.
2. Support, as members of a profession, other software engineers striving to follow this Code.
3. Improve their ability to create safe, reliable, and useful quality software at reasonable cost and within a reasonable time.
4. In particular, software engineers shall, as appropriate:Provide service in their areas of competence, being honest and forthright about any limitations of their experience and education.
5. Moderate the interests of the software engineer, the employer, the client and the users with the public good.
6. 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.
7. The dynamic and demanding context of software engineering requires a code that is adaptable and relevant to new situations as they occur.
8. Not ask a software engineer to do anything inconsistent with this Code.
9. Take responsibility for detecting, correcting, and reporting errors in software and associated documents on which they work.
10. Treat all forms of software maintenance with the same professionalism as new development.
1. In particular, software engineers shall, as appropriate:Accept full responsibility for their own work.
2. Accept no outside work detrimental to the work they perform for their primary employer.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. Ensure adequate documentation, including significant problems discovered and solutions adopted, for any project on which they work.
6. Identify, define and address ethical, economic, cultural, legal and environmental issues related to work projects.
7. Work to develop software and related documents that respect the privacy of those who will be affected by that software.
8. Credit fully the work of others and refrain from taking undue credit.
9. Strive to fully understand the specifications for software on which they work.
10. These Principles should influence software engineers to consider broadly who is affected by their work; to examine if they and their colleagues are treating other human beings with due respect; to consider how the public, if reasonably well informed, would view their decisions; to analyze how the least empowered will be affected by their decisions; and to consider whether their acts would be judged worthy of the ideal professional working as a software engineer.
1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. Ensure that software engineers are informed of standards before being held to them.
5. Principle 3: PRODUCTSoftware engineers shall ensure that their products and related modifications meet the highest professional standards possible.
6. The Code helps to define those actions that are ethically improper to request of a software engineer or teams of software engineers.
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. Principle 7: COLLEAGUESSoftware engineers shall be fair to and supportive of their colleagues.
9. In particular, software engineers shall, as appropriate:Temper all technical judgments by the need to support and maintain human values.
10. 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.
1. Recognize that violations of this Code are inconsistent with being a professional software engineer.
2. In all these judgments concern for the health, safety and welfare of the public is primary; that is, the "Public Interest" is central to this Code.
3. The Code provides an ethical foundation to which individuals within teams and the team as a whole can appeal.
4. 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.
5. Provide for due process in hearing charges of violation of an employer's policy or of this Code.
6. It is not intended that the individual parts of the Code be used in isolation to justify errors of omission or commission.
7. In accordance with that commitment, software engineers shall adhere to the following Code of Ethics and Professional Practice.
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. 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.
1. The Code is not a simple ethical algorithm that generates ethical decisions.
2. In particular, software engineers shall, as appropriate:Help develop an organizational environment favorable to acting ethically.
3. Not punish anyone for expressing ethical concerns about a project.
4. Be careful to use only accurate data derived by ethical and lawful means, and use it only in ways properly authorized.
5. The Code helps to define those actions that are ethically improper to request of a software engineer or teams of software engineers.
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. Identify, define and address ethical, economic, cultural, legal and environmental issues related to work projects.
8. 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.
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 Principles identify the ethically responsible relationships in which individuals, groups, and organizations participate and the primary obligations within these relationships.