Software engineering malpractice and its avoidance

Author

Palermo, Christopher J.

Author_Institution

Christie, Parker & Hale, Pasadena, CA, USA

fYear

1992

fDate

7-10 Oct 1992

Firstpage

41

Lastpage

50

Abstract

`Software engineering malpractice´ is an emerging legal theory which will impose new legal liability on software engineers and software developers for errors in software or unreliable software. This paper summarizes software engineering malpractice court decisions, and discusses how a software engineering malpractice case can arise in a variety of contexts encountered in software development. The paper explores preventative measures that software engineers and developers can take to help insulate themselves from malpractice liability. The paper concludes that proper preventative practices should be an integral part of any software reliability effort, and that such practices can help the software engineering profession avoid becoming a target of plaintiffs´ attorneys

Keywords

DP management; legislation; software engineering; attorneys; court decisions; errors; legal liability; legal theory; plaintiffs´; preventative practices; software development; software engineering malpractice; software engineering profession; software reliability; unreliable software; Contracts; Error correction; Insulation; Law; Legal factors; Programming; Reliability engineering; Sea measurements; Software engineering; Software systems;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Software Reliability Engineering, 1992. Proceedings., Third International Symposium on

Conference_Location

Research Triangle Park, NC

Print_ISBN

0-8186-2975-4

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/ISSRE.1992.285859

Filename

285859