Comment by kiwih | Hacker News Reader

Comment by kiwih | Hacker News Reader

Reproduced here:

“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.

”

Doesn't this apply to any profession? Do we really need to say things like "Software engineers shall be fair"?

Do pizza chefs have a significant social responsibility by virtue of my massive appreciation for the profession?

They have a significant social responsibility by virtue of their hand being in the dough.

Yes, we do need to say things like that, just like we need to say things like “doctors shall do no harm”.

I don't see why we need to do that, either. After all, if a doctor wanted to be evil, do you really think a code of "don't be evil" is going to deter him?

The idea is that government / society can strip the evil doctor of the right to be a doctor, for being evil

How would that stop him from being evil?

It wouldn’t necessarily.

But it would stop the person from doing evil as a doctor.

The lab coat alone carries weight that magnifies the amount of evil that an evil person can do.

A doctor or nurse that kills patients out of evil, leveraging their position of being able to see patients, should obviously not be allowed to see patients.

Similarly, programmers that do evil, leveraging their position of being able to program a computer for a company, should obviously not be allowed to program for a company.

Setting aside things like rehabilitation, of course.

But there are definitely documented cases of doctors and nurses using their power to kill or to abuse the disadvantaged.

Taking away that power, once it is abused, is key.

It does, but it's nice to see that software engineering is officially codified by the IEEE :-)

Prefaced by this:

“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:”

Good point, this should be included as part of the text. I have updated my comment.

Also prefaced by this:

“The short version of the code summarizes aspirations at a high level of the abstraction; the clauses that are included in the full version give examples and details of how these aspirations change the way we act as software engineering professionals. Without the aspirations, the details can become legalistic and tedious; without the details, the aspirations can become high-sounding but empty; together, the aspirations and the details form a cohesive code.”

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