Ethics

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Ethics

• CS 415, Software Engineering II
• Mark Ardis, Rose-Hulman Institute
• April 15, 2003

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• "Think just a little bit about who you are and
  where you are going, about being a professional
  in the true sense, about values, and about heroes
  ... and when on occasion you encounter moments of
  discouragement, as you will, it will lift you
  over those moments into the sunshine beyond."
• -- Harry A. Blackmun, Harvard Law Magazine,
  July 1994

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Requirements for a Profession

1. extensive learning and training
2. code of ethics
3. disciplinary system for members
4. emphasis on social responsibility
5. license

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Professional Societies

• Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
• Special Interest Group on Software Engineering
  (SIGSOFT)
• Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
  (IEEE) Computer Society (IEEE-CS)
• Technical Committee on Software Engineering (TCSE)

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Conferences Sponsored by Professional Societies

• International Conference on Software Engineering
  (ICSE)
• Foundations of Software Engineering (FSE)
• Specialty areas (OOPSLA, ISSTA)

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Journals and Magazines

• ACM
• Transactions on Software Engineering and
  Methodology (TOSEM)
• IEEE-CS
• Transactions on Software Engineering (TSE)
• Software magazine

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Software Engineering Curricula

• Many MS programs in software engineering (MSE)
• Few undergraduate programs in software
  engineering (BSSE)
• Many CS undergraduate programs are close to BSSE

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Software Engineering Coordinating Committee
(SWECC)

• Joint effort of ACM and IEEE-CS
• Mission is to "foster evolution of software
  engineering as a professional computing
  discipline"

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SWECC Projects

• Body of Knowledge (SWEBOK)
• Education
• Code of Ethics

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Cartoon of the Day
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Code of Ethics (1/4)

• 1 PUBLIC - Software engineers shall act
  consistently with the public interest.
• 2 CLIENT AND EMPLOYER - Software engineers shall
  act in a manner that is in the best interests of
  their client and employer consistent with the
  public interest.

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Code of Ethics (2/4)

• 3 PRODUCT - Software engineers shall ensure that
  their products and related modifications meet the
  highest professional standards possible.
• 4 JUDGMENT - Software engineers shall maintain
  integrity and independence in their professional
  judgment.

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Code of Ethics (3/4)

• 5 MANAGEMENT - Software engineering managers and
  leaders shall subscribe to and promote an ethical
  approach to the management of software
  development and maintenance.
• 6 PROFESSION - Software engineers shall advance
  the integrity and reputation of the profession
  consistent with the public interest.

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Code of Ethics (4/4)

• 7 COLLEAGUES - Software engineers shall be fair
  to and supportive of their colleagues.
• 8 SELF - Software engineers shall participate in
  lifelong learning regarding the practice of their
  profession and shall promote an ethical approach
  to the practice of the profession.

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Case Study 1

• Your company has worked hard to specify and
  design a new system for the federal government.
  Your contract was fixed-price, so all the extra
  overtime your team spent on the design was done
  for free. Now you have moved into the
  implementation contract, which includes extra
  fees for overtime. Your boss comes to your group
  and asks each of you to add overtime hours to
  your weekly time sheets to collect some of the
  money he feels you are owed from your work on the
  previous phase.

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Case Study 2

• Your company is working on a system for landing
  airplanes by autopilot. You notice that
  insufficient time is planned for system testing.