Abstract
This chapter discusses ethical software engineering and we discuss notable failures such as the space shuttle disaster and the defective Therac-25 radiotherapy machine. We discuss the extraordinary Volkswagen emissions scandal, where engineers designed a “defeat device” that would allow Volkswagen cars to pass emission tests in the United States.
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Notes
- 1.
Parnas advocates a solid engineering approach with the extensive use of classical mathematical techniques in software development. He also introduced information hiding in the 1970s, which is now a part of object-oriented design.
- 2.
It is unlikely that an individual programmer would be subject to litigation in the case of a flaw in a program causing damage or loss of life. A comprehensive disclaimer of responsibility for problems rather than a guarantee of quality accompany most software products. Software engineering is a team-based activity involving many engineers in various parts of the project, and it would be potentially difficult for an outside party to prove that the cause of a particular problem is due to the professional negligence of a particular software engineer, as there are many others involved in the process such as reviewers of documentation and code and the various test groups. Companies are more likely to be subject to litigation, as a company is legally responsible for the actions of their employees in the workplace, and a company is a wealthier entity than one of its employees. The legal aspects of licensing software may protect software companies from litigation. However, greater legal protection for the customer can be built into the contract between the supplier and the customer for bespoke-software development.
- 3.
The British Computer Society (BCS) has introduced a qualification system for computer science professionals, which is used to show that professionals are properly qualified. The most important of these is the BCS Information Systems Examination Board (ISEB) which allows IT professionals to be qualified in service management, project management, software testing, and so on.
- 4.
Software companies that are following the CMMI or ISO 9001 standards will employ audits to verify that the processes and procedures have been followed. Auditors report their findings to management and the findings are addressed appropriately by the project team and affected individuals.
- 5.
The film was actually made on the Kelani river near Kitulgala in Ceylon (Sri Lanka).
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O’Regan, G. (2024). Ethical Software Engineering. In: Ethical and Legal Aspects of Computing. Undergraduate Topics in Computer Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-52664-0_4
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