--- title: Developer Ethics --- ## Developer Ethics Developer Ethics describes the field of ethics when applied to the behavior of software developers. According to The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, the field of ethics (or moral philosophy) involves "systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong." Over the years, a number of organizations and individuals have attempted to codify developer ethics into a variety of oaths, pledges, and codes of conduct. Examples include: * [**The International Standard for Professional Software Development and Ethical Responsibility**](http://seeri.etsu.edu/TheSECode.htm) by the IEEE-CS/ACM Joint Task Force on Software Engineering Ethics and Professional Practices * [**The Ten Commandments of Computer Ethics**](http://computerethicsinstitute.org/publications/tencommandments.html) by the Computer Ethics Institute * [**The Pledge of the Computing Professional**](http://pledge-of-the-computing-professional.org/home-page/the-oath) * [**The Trustworthy Coder's Pledge**](https://medium.com/@BillSourour/the-trustworthy-coders-pledge-aa5ba046c5aa) by Bill Sourour * [**The Programmer's Oath**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36NgPu9OyRM&list=PLWKjhJtqVAbno-B4RmJHCDO0ZUKC2tpUQ) by "Uncle Bob" Martin * [**The "Never Again" Pledge**](http://neveragain.tech) * [**ACM Code of Ethics**](http://www.acm.org/about-acm/acm-code-of-ethics-and-professional-conduct) Common themes appearing throughout these examples include a commitment to honesty, integrity, and fairness. To date, since most software developers do not belong to – and are not governed by – any official order, guild, association, or society, no single, codified ethical standard has been widely adopted. -- #### More Information: * [Computer and Information Ethics](https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2014/entries/ethics-computer/) entry in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. * [Computer Ethics](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_ethics) entry in WikiPedia. * [CSE 302 - Professional Ethics for Computer Science](http://www3.cs.stonybrook.edu/~mueller/teaching/cse302/) – outline and study materials for a course given in the Computer Science department at Stony Brook University's College of Engineering and Applied Sciences. * [A Very Short History of Computer Ethics](https://web.archive.org/web/20080418122849/http://www.southernct.edu/organizations/rccs/resources/research/introduction/bynum_shrt_hist.html) – article from the Summer 2000 issue of the American Philosophical Association’s Newsletter on Philosophy and Computing.