The Professional Software Developer

I recently received an email from T. S. who complied  this list aimed to help his team become Professional Software Developers. It is a compilation from various sources and he certainly does not feel that it’s his.

The Professional Software Developer Pledge

1. I am a professional software developer.

2. I will take user requirements seriously and be passionate about customer service.

3. I will not show disdain for the customer who does not understand what I do and will always attempt to cross the bridge from the technical world to the user’s world.

4. I understand that every member of the IT staff is important to achieving my goals.

5. I will take pride in the code that I write.

6. I understand that my field is constantly growing and changing and I will explore new concepts and be open to new ideas.

7. I will take pains to improve my knowledge and skills.

8. I understand that even though I am the first to write this code, I will not be the last to maintain it.

9. I will strive to keep my code readable and have as little complexity as possible.

Forget Gen Ed, Presentations classes and random electives. Teach Programming Ethics instead! Granted, that not all of the aforementioned qualities are specific to programmers, they still apply to us on some level and thus worth contemplating. We still have duties toward ourselves and the people we work with even after all the excitement of learning new things have faded.

Tags: developer, ethics, professional, software