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Chpt. 6.2. Problems of Software Engineers

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Yiğit Can Çelik
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12 views

Chpt. 6.2. Problems of Software Engineers

Uploaded by

Yiğit Can Çelik
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Chapter 6.2.

ETHICAL PROBLEMS OF
SOFTWARE ENGINEERS

Prof. Dr. Günay Kocasoy


MEF UNIVERSITY
Tel : (0212) 359 44 76
(0532) 546 28 08
e-mail : [email protected]
[email protected]
 Computer-Software has great role in people’s daily life

 Ranging from video games to graphics design and safety assurance

 Software failures are more than hardware failures


THERAC 25 CASE

 At 1985-1987 period

 6 severe incidences - radiation overdose in the treatment of cancer

 Overdose-because of failure of the medical instrument

 Result : either severe injury or death


THERAC 25 Case (cont.)

 Software was designed for many functions such as

 keeping truck of instrument status

 accepting input for the desired treatment

 taking appropriate action for failures


THERAC 25 Case (cont.)

 Software of the medical instrument Therac 25 has been written


by a person who recycled a certain amount of code
from the
earlier version of the Therac

Documentation was poor

Manuafacturer’s risk assessment of the instrument


did not
include software failure
THERAC 25 Case (cont.)

 Civil-mechanical engineering have professional organization for the

 Standards for definitions


 recommended practices or ethics
 Software engineering was lacking this kind of

professional organization
THERAC 25 Case (cont.)

 Many crucial software, including for life-critical systems


comes from small companies
 Many of them may have great industrial success and high
turnover,
but low in engineering aspects

 Many accidents originate from web of complex technologies,


technical, managerial sociological factors

 Software is one of these factors


THERAC 25 Case (cont.)

 Pressures to get the product to the market quickly


–
an important role

 Since software is often rewritten in many versions by many programmers and


the contribution of
each of them is poorly defined

it is difficult to identify the responsible programmer

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