Point 10

Principle 2: CLIENT AND EMPLOYER

2.03. Use the property of a client or employer only in ways properly authorized, and with the client's or employer's knowledge and consent.

When we do the software development projects sometimes we have to use property of the client or employer. When we use such properties we have to use them after informing them in a proper way. If the ignore to use them in such way it will lead to ethical and the legal problems. This is a good practice in the software development.

“ReputeU” website was given us by our client to re-develop it and add some functions. Since this is a web based site to check the source code we needed to access to the web server. In order to access to the sever we needed the username and the password of the web server. There for we met our client and told our requirements and he provided the necessary information.

If we access the web base system without notifying to our client it is a legal and ethical violation and it will be a violation of the code of conduct too. 

Point 09

Principle 8: SELF

8.01. Further their knowledge of developments in the analysis, specification, design, development, maintenance and testing of software and related documents, together with the management of the development process.

Information and Communication Technology is an area which continuously changing and get updating. As Software engineers/ IT undergraduates we should always keep our knowledge up to date to survive in this competitive Information Technology industry. We should get a proper knowledge about entire system development life cycle and the associated documentation in each phase in the life cycle. Also a proper software engineer should aware of the standards, legal frame work for software development.

When we continue the project “ReputeU” our task was to re-design the website and add additional functions to the web site. Most of the analysis and design part was completed by the previous developers. But when we investigate the back end of the program we found that there were many inconsistencies in different areas. Because of that reason we realized the documentation and the proper analysis of the requirements.

Through this project I have improved my software development knowledge in different areas such as java scripts technologies. It was a good opportunity to me to learn new things. This was the first time I have touched a re-designing project. I learned how to continue a re-design project and what are the things that I should do when I develop a software/websites for future use. 

Point 08

Principle 7: COLLEAGUES

7.04. Review the work of others in an objective, candid, and properly-documented way.

This is an impotent pint in the code of conduct. All the software should be tested before publishing it or handing over to the client. Through the software testing and reviewing we can identify the faults, failures and the errors in the software. There are several testing and reviewing techniques such as black box testing, white box testing, unit testion, integration testing, and system testing user acceptance test and so on.

According to this code of conduct when we review code of conduct in objective way. It should be unbiased process. To be unbiased we can used predefined guidelines and standards for review. When we found such error or fault in the software we should formally notified to the developer of the software so he/she can correct it.

As I mention before there were three members in our group to develop the “ReputeU” project and when we developed our owned assigned parts we went through a peer reviewed process. This method was very useful because we found many errors and in the other hand we were able to optimize the code. As an example once when I written a code and show it to my friends they came up with a better solution than the existing one. When we found an error three of us discussed it and always tried to come up with a better solution. During this peer review process we worked as in an objective way and we treat each other equally without being biased to one person.

There for we were able to practice this code of conduct during the implementation of the “ReputeU” project.   

Point 07

Principle 7: COLLEAGUES

7.02. Assist colleagues in professional development.

This code of conduct is always relevant to the academic studies and for the software development industry. Nobody have the full complete knowledge about the software engineering area. There for we have to help and support each other in our software engineering profession. There are various ways to share knowledge and we can use those ways to improve our knowledge.

Re-designing the “ReputeU” project is an academic assignment that we completed for professional issues subject in Information Communication and Technology degree program.  In our development team there were three members three of us had different skills in different areas such as PHP, HTML, CSS, and Photoshop. While we doing project we tried to learn the other technologies that we have low knowledge and we helped each other when we faced n to difficult situations.

In the other hand giving these type of assignments also help to professional development among the students and we should appreciate it to providing such opportunities for the students.

Point 06

Principle 6: PROFESSION

6.08. Take responsibility for detecting, correcting, and reporting errors in software and associated documents on which they work.

As a professional software engineers you should following this code of conduct is very important. Software engineers always should try to improve the quality of the profession. It is the responsibility of the software engineer to identify correct and report the errors in the software so that the users of that software will be benefited from it. This becomes an impotent point when we do software re-engineering or re-design the existing software. This code of conduct not only concern about the software but also concern about the relevant documentation.

As software developers we re-design the “ReputeU” website and did several modification and updates. When we develop this web site we have detected some places which are not functioning correctly and we have identified the errors in the source code. We have documented those errors and had a discussion with our client before we correct them. There for we practiced this code of conduct through the development phase of the “ReputeU” project.

Rather than doing new modification and add new function without checking the existing code we though it as our responsibility to provide error free or bug free software product to our client and it will definitely lead to the end user satisfaction. 

Point 05

Principle 5: MANAGEMENT

5.01 Ensure good management for any project on which they work, including effective procedures for promotion of quality and reduction of risk.

Good project management is a key factor for a successful project. It is important to follow project management practices when we develop a software product. It enables to provide a better and timely software solution for the clients. Allocated time duration is a critical factor in a software development project. There are different techniques can be used to utilize the time effectively. According to this code of conduct Software developers should follow project management process to improve the quality and reduce the risk of the work. When we use a project management technique it automatically lead us to achieve these goals and objectives.

When we started to re develop the “ReputeU” web site we selected the iterative development method. The reason for choosing this method is it is an easy way to develop the website and we can get feedback for implemented function from our client time to time. In our group all the members have ability to develop web sites and there for as the initial step we divided the task into three separate parts. Individually we developed the assign parts and finally we integrate all the parts.

While doing the development of the site we always kept a proper communication among all the three members and we used face to face, Skype, and Facebook for communication. Because of this proper communication and the proper project management we were able to complete the task effectively within the given time frame with minimum risk and the failures.

Point 04

Principle 2: CLIENT AND EMPLOYER

2.07. Identify, document, and report significant issues of social concern, of which they are aware, in software or related documents, to the employer or the client.

There are several facts which have to be considered before starting the project. Feasibility study report is one of the important document created during the first phase of the software development life cycle. Cultural feasibility and the legal feasibility is use to identify the cultural, legal constraints. Software developers should discuss identified issues and try to find solutions for them. It is a good practice to overcome difficult situations.

“ReputeU” is a kind of a social web site helps to develop virtues of the users. There for we had to concern about this site with different point of views.  When we select the virtues we had some issues in select them such as

• Some selected virtues were bias to some religions
• Some virtues were difficult to define (define the two extreme ends)
• The ways we used in the website to develop our virtues

There for, we had couple of meeting with our client and we discussed possible solutions for those issues. Since this is an academic assignment the guidance of our client was very useful to clarify and overcome such difficult situations.