{"id":12069,"date":"2020-11-11T10:10:01","date_gmt":"2020-11-11T09:10:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.codemotion.com\/magazine\/?p=12069"},"modified":"2022-01-05T20:06:13","modified_gmt":"2022-01-05T19:06:13","slug":"developer-ethics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.codemotion.com\/magazine\/dev-life\/stories\/developer-ethics\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Developer Ethics Matters"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTable Of Contents\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
  1. Why is ethics for software developers important now?<\/a>
  2. Examples of issues that involve software developer ethics<\/a>
  3. What can we do about developer ethics?\u00a0<\/a><\/ol>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\n\n

    Software<\/span> is eating the world. We, developers<\/span> and architects, are a major force influencing software, technology<\/span>, and the world it creates. We don\u2019t have the privilege of being unaware of our actions. If we really want to create a better world, we must understand the intersection of technology and humanity. We need to open our eyes to the link between developer<\/span> ethics and software<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Rotem Hermon is lead architect at SAP Customer Data Cloud<\/a>, and has been building and designing back-end systems for a long time. He presented a talk at Codemotion Amsterdam 2019<\/a> about the issue of developers<\/span> and ethics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    [jwp-video n=”1″]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Why is ethics for software developers important now?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    According to Rotem there are two trends that increase the need for coders to be mindful of developer ethics in their work: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    1. Software is really becoming the technology that is underlying everything<\/strong> that is happening in the world now. As technology advances, it’s becoming less and less noticeable – as we progress, people notice it less.<\/li>
    2. There’s a decline in liberal arts education, especially in technical education<\/strong>.  It’s not considered something that it’s is worth investing in. This is despite developers “working in one of the most influential professions that there is. And yet the whole education that we build to make those professionals doesn’t include any compulsory curriculum that talks about the social, cultural and ethical implications of what we do.”<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      Examples of issues that involve software developer ethics<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
      \"Developer<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

      Autonomous cars and ‘the trolley problem’<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

      Imagine a train that is on the loose. And if it keeps on going on the track, it’s going to hit five people. And you’re standing near a lever that can diverge the train to another track. And if you pull that lever, it will diverge, but then it will kill one person. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      So what should you do? Should you pull the lever or not? This is classical ethical dilemma. And there’s no single right answer here. It depends on the value systems or ethical consideration that you put into it, and it may bring different kind of answers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Imagine then, an autonomous car<\/a> that is going to hit a bunch of people:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      We it can divert sideways, but then it will hit another person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      So what should the car do? <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n