As it is conveyed in the Code of Conduct software engineers shall enhance their knowledge of every process that they would have to go through such as requirement gathering, analyzing, designing, development, maintenance and testing with related documentation as well as the management of the project. By not following this Code might not result any critical outcomes to either the developer or the product. But it is advised to adhere to this code in order to improve the self-knowledge and self-experience. If there are developers who do not concern much about improving their knowledge, which they should, will eventually be left behind in the field as the information and communication technology is kind of a field that has a rapid development and subjected to continuous change.

For undergraduates like us, this kind of projects provide maximum opportunity to touch the practical areas of web development and software engineering. Therefore we as a team put our best effort to learn and improve our knowledge in every stage of the development.

Requirement gathering phase was not very difficult as we had a client with a better understanding about our boundaries and experiences. There was not much difficult things to learn from that phase. That being said the analysis of the requirements we gathered wasn’t that much easy as previous. We had to make sure that all the specifications were analyzed and understood properly to get to the next stage which was designing. We had several discussions with client as well as team members towards identifying the requirements accurately.

The designing phase gave us the opportunity to get a real life experience by applying what we have learned through our course in a practical manner. This includes several practical scenarios such as handling of database, managing colors, designing user friendly interfaces and etc.

Implementation of the functionalities was helpful in strengthening our experience in programming and we had to learn new methodologies, coding practices so as to make sure the final product meet with the exact requirements provided by client. In testing also we had the chance to apply what we learned as theories practically.

As mentioned before the incremental development method was the development procedure we followed when working on the project. Working on the project using that method delivered us a great real life experience in how to manage our activities to furnish a quality product. Time management is one of the major experience which we had through working on this project. Although there was no documentation involved in the process we as a team had an excessive chance to further our knowledge in many extents. Learn more »

By being professionals in the field of software engineering and web developing we shall take responsibility for identifying, correcting and reporting errors or faults in the software or website we develop including the errors in documentation. In other words this could state as improving the quality of the product by removing any unnecessary or faulty behaviors which will arise in the usage of the product and by delivering a professional documentation.

When developing and redesigning the web site ReputeU a considerable weight was given to detect any errors or faults it had. The errors associated with the product can be categorized into two sections. They are,

• Errors of previous work

• Errors of our own work

There were some errors of previous work which we distinguished within the period of analyzing. All the errors which were discovered were noted down with relevant details and later taken into discussions on how to correct those errors. These discussions took place with client as well as team members. The necessary steps had been taken to correct those errors as a result of those meetings and discussions.

Within the testing period of our own developments discovered numerous errors. As it dictates in this very own code we took responsibility of detecting those errors and correcting them in best possible ways. I and my colleagues as a team did not violate this code by not correcting or hiding errors which was revealed during the testing process.

The relevant documentations were not taken into consideration when developing specific functionalities and redesigning the web site. Hence it was not possible for the project team to identify any kind of errors regarding the documentation. Furthermore the project team didn’t deliver any sort of new documentation with the redesigned product. Learn more »

It is a vital fact that the software engineers and web developers shall give full credit to work of others and refrain from taking undue credit for work which they are not creditable. Although it is also unprofessional to take credit for other’s work, the code of conduct states that it is highly unethical more than unprofessional to undertake that kind of actions.

This code can be broken into several scenarios under how the work of others has to be credited. The possible scenarios are,

• Grant credit to each team member for their own work.

• Grant credit to information which we derived from websites, articles or books and etc.

• Grant credit to those who assist the team by providing information, knowledge as well as technical support.

First and foremost the team conceded to credit every member for their own work regarding the redesign and development of the ReputeU web site. The three members carried out different areas of development together. One member carried out the designing part, another the analyzing and data collecting part and next member most of the coding part. Apart from that all three members placed their contribution on finalizing the product. The credit to each and every function the members executed had been given consequently. No member tried to take credit on others work or abstained others from having credit to their own work.

We as university undergraduates accept that there are limitations to our knowledge. Therefore we took support from our superiors as well as our own colleagues in developing the functionalities required. We do not hesitate to give full credit to their support and the knowledge given.

Our team did not refer any books to obtain information mentioned in the site. But we went through several articles on few websites to clarify the accuracy of the information we possessed. We would not hesitate to grant necessary credit for those articles and websites for those information we got. Learn more »

Being a professional software engineer or a professional web developer has its own responsibilities. One of them as mentioned in the code of conduct is to encourage their colleagues to adhere to this code. So as to follow this code first a particular software engineer or a web developer should adhere to this code himself or herself. Then he or she can inspire his or her colleagues to follow the code by any means necessary.

In the formation of design and functionalities of ReputeU website all three members made sure that each and every member adhere to this ‘Code of Conduct’ by following the codes it provides. We individually understood the importance of following this code and the values it can provide us in the long run and tried to educate each other in best possible ways. Subsequently what we expected was to minimize our wrong doings and faults from happening or avoid having inappropriate outcomes through the functionalities of the site.

When we had problems with regard to the project we work on, we as team had discussions, brain storming sessions in order to find the finest possible solution to overcome the problem. Within the process the code of conduct played a great role assisting us, educating us and remembering us what we ought and ought not to do. We ensured that no one in the team would violate any of those codes mentioned by inciting everyone to the right way of doing things.

For instance our team had a discussion on how to get users to post their virtue stories on the site, whether to provide a direct link to post it online or should it go through the admin panel first before posting it online. A member had a suggestion to provide a direct link so that the user will be satisfied. But conferring to code of conduct we shall maintain the integrity and accuracy of data and information and they are properly authorized towards protecting the site from having flawed occurrences. We educated and encouraged him about how important it is to adhere to this code and the shortcomings we will face if we do not do accordingly. Finally all three members agreed to provide an email for users to send virtue stories where those will be examined to validate properly before posting. And the users will be clearly apprised if there are any issues. Learn more »

Developing a software or a website doesn’t just mean delivering the functionalities requested by the client. It also means managing the project in an effective and efficient manner including maintaining a genuine quality while diminishing the risk it holds. What would software engineer or a website developer anticipate by putting an extra effort to manage their project and promote the quality? They would gain numerous advantages by doing so. Some of them can be categorized as follows.

• Reduce customer/user dissatisfaction by having a complete error free website.

• Reduction in illegal issues.

• There is a highly likelihood that the user will revisit the site because of the proper management.

• Increase the user-friendliness of the site.

• Easy to maintain and improve the site in the future while reducing the maintenance cost.

• Reduction of faults and failures due to low quality of functionalities.

• The site will meet the required standards.

Code of conducts dictates that software engineers shall conduct a better management for the project they work and ensure the quality of the product while reducing the risks. And that will eventually lead to the success of the project by all means.

When developing and re-developing functionalities and design of the ReputeU site we were highly concerned about managing our work. The team decided to use incremental development method in developing the website as it is one of those methods which provide the facility to cope with the client while progressing. The team made sure that every team member get the best case to develop their knowledge. We followed necessary procedures in order to get a better result as well as to get maximum out of our knowledge.

Minimizing the risks is one of the main considerations we had and to do so we followed best possible scenarios such as data validations, content management and user authorization and authentication etc. As a team we had a good communication between team members and that ultimately led us to have a better management through the project. Learn more »

Obligation to maintain the integrity of data is one of the main considerations which software engineers should adhere according to the code of conduct. They shall also be concerned about getting outdated or flawed occurrences in their product. This may cause negative impacts on the work that has been done. Users of the product may not be satisfied with the outcome they get. Thus it is dominant to retain the integrity and eliminate the outdated or flawed occurrences as much as possible.

ReputeU website contains a bunch of information about virtues and vices. Users are able to rate their friends on requests and rate themselves using these virtues and vices. Hence it is very important that the users understand what each virtue and vice states. We as developers of the site, administered certain descriptions on each virtue in order to provide a better and clear understanding to users. The integrity of those descriptions was a main concern and hence were taken from trustworthy sources.

The ReputeU website allows users to post virtue stories with regard to the virtues described in the site. By having the freedom to post any virtue story, there might be some situations that the user will post false information. For instance a user can post a virtue story of some famous person in a wrong way. To avoid this situation we as the admin panel of the website, decided to examine and validate every virtue story the user submit before publishing it. We are hoping to get some expert knowledge to validate those information as well.

By providing a good maintenance service regularly the project team expect to eliminate any outdated information and flawed occurrences which can appear through the usage of the site. We will do our best to avoid those from happening and we will take full responsibility if there are any defective information or functionalities.

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As it is conveyed in the code of conduct, software engineers should endeavor to understand the specifications of the software that they are currently working on or they are going to develop in the future. It is very important that they completely understand the requirements given by the client to reach the expected results. If failed to identify the specifications completely it would eventually lead to several unfavorable effects such as wrong outputs from functions, inappropriate designs, unsatisfied clients and users and etc. Therefore the complete understanding of specifications is considered essential with regard to developing of the software.

Pertaining to ReputeU website which we are intended to develop, we are responsible for what we understand from the specification and what we develop accordingly. Hence we put our maximum effort to comprehend the specifications of the site and its domain. In order to do so our team had several meetings with the client in every stage of the development. In our meetings the discussions took place on clarifying the problems arose and to make sure that the client is well aware of our work and its progress. The client viewed the work and placed his comments and suggestions with regard to the functionalities as well as design of the site. Those suggestions and comments were taken into consideration for improving the site further.

Apart from those meetings, we had team meetings on every week in order to discuss the issues each member had and those were also supportive in understanding the specifications clearly. It was not necessary to use requirement gathering techniques such as questionnaires or interviews as the specifications were clear and well understood after several meetings with the client. To gain a better understanding on how to implement several functionalities our team studied and researched websites with similar functionalities and went through some tutorials wish provide us a great benefit.

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