Ethics

Professional standards and guidelines

Software Engineering Code of Ethics and Professional Practice (Short Version)

Software engineers shall commit themselves to making the analysis, specification, design, development, testing and maintenance of software a beneficial and respected profession. In accordance with their commitment to the health, safety and welfare of the public, software engineers shall adhere to the following Eight Principles:

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.

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.

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.

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.

Academic

FGCU Student Code of Conduct

FGCU Ethics and Compliance

ACM Computing Curriculum

In Programming

Cite any resources used such as web sites, classmates, etc. as comments in code.

It is considered plagiarism if you take program code written by another person and present it as your own work.

Almost all computer programs contain many ideas borrowed from elsewhere. Many also contain short sections of actual code copied from elsewhere. For example, writing a section of program to create a new window on screen with a menu at the top of the window is often done by simply copying a few of lines of code from an example in a programming manual or textbook, either with or without a few minor changes. This is normally regarded as fair use and typically requires no acknowledgment.

Any more significant copying of code from elsewhere should be acknowledged, however. The acknowledgment can be put in comments within the program itself. Obviously, it is not possible to put sections of code in quotation marks to indicate that they have been taken directly from elsewhere. Instead, the comments should make it clear which sections of code have been copied from elsewhere. Equally, the comments should make it clear when the basic method has been copied from elsewhere, but changes made to the details. From Guidance Notes on Plagiarism, University of Birmingham School of Computer Science.

In Classes

How to ethically and responsibly give and get help in classes:

  • guide fellow students toward answers, do not provide answers

  • do not show your code to other students

Real-life ethical issues

The Trolley Dilemma