Discussion: Ethical Coding Practices If you click CODE OF ETHICS it will directl
ID: 3744496 • Letter: D
Question
Discussion: Ethical Coding Practices
If you click CODE OF ETHICS it will directly lead you to this website below, please click it on it.
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https://ethics.acm.org/code-of-ethics/previous-versions/1992-acm-code/
From the Code of Ethics reading for this week, focus on Section One: General Moral Imperatives. How do these affect you as a student? How will they affect you as you move into the professional workplace? How do imperatives 1.5 and 1.6 apply to classroom projects? Which point(s) stand out as the most important to you?
Explanation / Answer
Code of Ethics in the software world is quite an intriguing topic of discussion. Now answering the question from a student's point of view, as a student one may not feel these imperatives as their 'sole morals' but at some point in time, they do play a part.
Now beginning with Section 1.1, contributing to social wellbeing is a prime responsibility of every professional and at the end of the day if it makes no impact, its all a waste of intellect. Pitching in proper solutions that solve eminent issues of the public is something really reassuring for any student's career. Adding to it, Section 1.2 invokes the need for respecting people and their digital rights and ensuring one's actions do not compromise another's feelings. Say for the famous example of Zuckerburg's 'Hot or Not' app, which may have been intended for the fun of savvy teenagers but it imparted abuse to people mentioned on it. This form of abuse or insult must never be imparted even as a student developer or a professional.
Section 1.3 which talks about being just and truthful about one's intentions, data (information) and responsibilities. As a student, one must be accountable first to himself and to others about his accomplishments/works or projects. Boasting on one's resume or overkilling one's skill set never does you good. This has happened to me personally, and believe me it cost me a hefty lot. Be straightforward and choose your options and responsibilities wisely.
The next section adds stardust to the earlier sections and stresses on respecting one's digital rights and one must always look into it while executing projects for the public. Users must not be left offended by the policies of the product developers. This brings us to Section 1.7 which talk about user privacy. As a student, our projects may not involve an awful lot of valuable user data but this fact is to be always kept in mind even as a professional.
The final section i.e 1.8 as for students, applies when one works on 3rd party projects and internships. Letting out the secret sauce of the business is never a good idea. One must learn to act wisely and 'Act professional' while developing for serious businesses and organizations that demand confidentiality. But for one's hobby projects, I say never mind.
I believe I touched down on the various aspects as a student developer. Lot of it applies when you move on to be a professional. But again all that is subjective to your working environment i.e if it's a corporate or a startup. A corporate environment demands you to follow the age-old customs and confidentiality is a key to climb the ladder(Also because it is this confidentiality which generates jobs in Corporates). Startup jobs are skill demanding and quite intensive wherein you are expected to be the all-in-all. So keep in mind all the echoes of section 1.3 and be faithful to your peers. Rest of it applies to every software job there is. The code you write must serve a purpose and also must allow people to built on it.
Now, coming to sections 1.5 and 1.6 i.e honoring property rights and crediting intellectual property, I kind of have a mixed opinion on this one. It's always good to learn from copying and adopting popular practices, this will only serve you good. One must never be left back from developing solutions just because it is already done by someone who owns a patent on it. Copyrights are for good but that doesn't mean you don't get to copy them and apply them to your use cases. You very well can and I say should try doing it. But it is always a good practice to credit them for their inventions. But mimics are good as they help you learn a lot. So thumbs up if you have been mimicking cool projects! It is wise that you credit the creator while presenting your solution(be it on social media/classroom). This adds value to the creator and you don't outrule section 1.3.
Finally, to me, the imperatives that really standout are Section 1.2, 1.3 and 1.7. Never intend harm to any community, sex, race through the product one develops. Our product or code must never be put illicit use to compromise the user's privacy(I'm definitely not a Facebook fanboy!). And finally be truthful as a professional, for every description you put on your resume, make sure you have given it a good enough go.