Software Engineering Ethics and Professional Practice
Professional ethics is not decoration - it is part of the job. Engineers hold specialized knowledge the public lacks, which creates duties of competence, honesty, and care. Know the major frameworks: the ACM/IEEE-CS Software Engineering Code of Ethics (eight principles spanning public, client/employer, product, judgment, management, profession, colleagues, self) and the IEEE Code of Ethics. Understand that obligations are ordered - public safety and welfare generally outrank employer interest.
Core concepts: competence (don't accept work beyond your ability without disclosure), confidentiality (protect employer and client information), conflict of interest (disclose, don't conceal), intellectual property (respect licenses, attribution, and open-source obligations), data privacy (collect minimally, protect, honor consent), and whistleblowing (escalate internally first; go external when harm is serious and internal channels fail). Know professional responsibility for the quality of what you ship: signing off on untested safety-critical code is a violation, not a favor.
Traps: questions that frame an unethical shortcut as "just following orders" or "business pressure" - professional codes do not excuse harm; scenarios where confidentiality is invoked to hide a public safety risk (safety wins); and confusion between legal and ethical (something can be legal yet unethical). Watch for answers that recommend quitting as a first step - escalation and documentation usually come first.
Rule of thumb: if you would not be comfortable explaining the decision publicly to affected users, it likely violates the code.
Worked example: You discover a medical device's release contains a known defect that could misreport dosages. Correct path: document the risk, raise it to your manager and quality lead in writing, refuse to certify the release, and escalate further if ignored - prioritizing public safety over schedule pressure.