Clean Craftsmanship: Disciplines, Standards, and Ethics

12 Harm

Several promises in the oath are related to harm.

First, Do No Harm

Promise 1. I will not produce harmful code.

The first promise of the software professional is DO NO HARM! That means that your code must not harm your users, your employers, your managers, or your fellow programmers.

You must know what your code does. You must know that it works. And you must know that it is clean.

Some time back, it was discovered that some programmers at Volkswagen wrote some code that purposely thwarted Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) emissions tests. Those programmers wrote harmful code. It was harmful because it was deceitful. That code fooled ...