The Significance of Software Development - Essay Example

Software development Software Development Introduction Software Development is picking pace as an inalienable force in the information technology world. Nations worldwide have taken concern of the importance of ICT as being both a Social and Economic development facilitator. Therefore, Software Development can be considered as a core of information technology (Cohn, 2004). It is, therefore, imperative that enhancement of the infrastructure required to close the gap of disharmony in the digital world and a reduction in communication costs be accomplished. The purpose of this research paper is to assess the significance of software development, and in particular dwell on its social, ethical, security and legal implications. Background Essentially, software is a prerequisite if the hardware is to become of any use. Furthermore, software requires hardware to operationalize it. Applications have become revolutionized in such a way that they are almost mandatory for all digital equipment. The initial programmable computers came into existencein the second quartile of the twentieth Century. As years went by, more and more use of new software became a necessity. The increase in budget and low priced mobile phones and computers has secured an upgrade in this field. This has happened thanks to the introduction of the swift and inexpensive broadband (Pilone, 2007). The future of software development is superimposed on applications that work with mobile phones, smartphones and tablets. This has created a huge potential for software developers to get into and create applications that use technologies such as short messages (SMS), web applications and native applications. It has also extensively been used in emerging gadgets like in Smartphones’ applications, gaming applications, and many others. Open source software development has ensured benefits in terms of how tractable they are and their ease of maintenance. This kind of development also makes software staff to post competitive performance because their performance can easily be assessed by their superiors as well as their associates. These among other benefits enable open source developers of software to surpass their proprietary counterparts. Problem identification The utilisation of Custom Software facilitates higher stakes in the rush for efficiency and productivity amongst firms. All the same, the usage of Business Software development has potential to efficiently meet full business needs. Moreover, Software development is widely viewed as a very lucrative venture especially given that the high and mighty in this field is also amongst the richest globally. So, although it is not such a young field, its continued progressive growth indicates it has large capacity to be amongst the dominant industries and rival, like say, oil mining. To say it simply, all that one requires to start software development is a computer and internet connection. Once this is well laid out, it is possible to pursue new ideas in this field. The dominance and significance of software development in the information technology industry imposes important legal, social, ethical and social implications that is worth consideration. Legal issues Legal Issues emerging in software development are basically to do with intellectual property rights and freedoms. Right of software ownership largely depends on whether the software is copyright protected or not. Alongside the intellectual property rights, that are largely proprietary, there is also open source software, which has come a long way since the late 1990s. Led by Linux and others, Software developers who subscribe to this school of thought insist that it is the best way to raise the standards of software. One of the complications in copyright laws is the notion of fair utilization such as usage without disrobing the founders of gains from their work and building up fresh work while at it. Proponents of free software like Richard Stallman argue that it grants freedoms to revise software by its source code. He reiterates that distribution of software without fear of retribution and freedom to change and produce the changed copy free from royalties is very essential (Benharref, 2012). Ethical issues On several occasions, issues have been raised regarding how ethical the software development front is. Matters arising under ethics include trust, encryption and privacy issues. Information is basically encrypted because of identity theft and other crimes founded on personal information. As much as there is no total intrusion-proof encryption technique, and given the fact that most governments override them to protect their nationals, encryption still remains a safe haven for protection of passwords. Based on this only, it can be argued that encryptions are ethical and that development of software that breaks them should be a subject of great scrutiny. Trust, on the other hand, is a very sensitive issue since it is a hard property to measure and mostly will border on an individuals’ attitude. When following instructions on a dialog box in a computer, and hell breaks loose and it shuts down, then the first thing that come to play is the trust the individual bestows on the software developed (Pollice, 2006). Further, privacy is also vital if software developers are to hold up their relevance. Protection from encroachment into user affairs and control of personal information should be basic priorities to software developers. Software users have the right to solitude. Freedom from unauthorised observation is another privacy pillar. Software developers, for the sake of ethics, should invest in combating spyware. This will go a long way in ensuring individuals do not feel like their every activity is watched. Users may develop a sixth sense to detect spyware if they constantly have to dig them out of their computers. Social issues The morality of software has come under the lenses especially after abuse from different quarters.Some users of software have ulterior motives, which they are willing to pursue to undesirable ends.Mobile applications like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter have commonly been used as a platform for interaction amongst the youth and now increasingly amongst adult folk. These social sites have become a world on their own and become a major distraction from reality. Parents are deeply unsettled by the fact that today’s children spend too much time on these social sites and also using gaming software, and less time on homework. In addition to these issues, deadlines not being adhered to by software developers are becoming more frequent in an industry that timing is almost everything. If software is passed with time, it becomes obsolete and irrelevant to the society. Coupled with these, less software released today is practical and as such the ease of use by the layman is on the decline. Security issues Though unfortunate, hackers have also focused on building software in order to collect personal information about individuals. This information is later used in crimes against the individuals. Cyber-crimes have become more and more sophisticated with the development of new software. Perforations in software have enabled software to fall prey to hackers of all kinds. Smart phone software like the Android has made phones to become targets of bugging, for instance, the Samsung Galaxy S3 bugs (Kelly, 2008). This notwithstanding, there are malwares like viruses and worms that take advantage of flaws in software security make up. In order for software development to get accomplished, a few obstacles have to be overcome. This hurdle that must be ironed out includes the ease of access into the software field by rookie entrants. This has been complicated by increasing price of labour. Other than this, other aspects like virtual theft have to be addressed if the ambition of attack-proof software is to be achieved (Miles & Pilone, 2007). Conclusion In view of this assessment, the issue software development is seen as a very crucial scenario that has dominated the scene of information technology in the current world. It is evident that software development is as very important industry since computers hardware cannot function without them. As such, there are many legal, social, ethical and security issues that affect software development, and they should be ironed out due to their implications. For example, security flaw in a software development can lead to loss of millions of money due to undue access to a company’s sensitive data. There are also legal implications that protect software owners against infringement of rights and the legal framework that protects such rights, which are highly established in some countries. Reference Benharref , S. (2012). New Trends in Innovation and information Technology. Journal of Software ,17(7), 23-56. The author is an expert in Information technology. The author is also an experienced university professor and is accredited for making several publications on Information technology. This is a peer reviewed journal that discusses emerging issues in information technology, therefore, it was found very useful. Cohn, M. (2004). User Stories Applied: For Agile Software Development. Colorado: Addison-Wesley Professional. The author has more than 20 years experience as a top executive in various companies, heading IT departments. He has written myriad of articles and journals on IT. The ideas of this book originates from Extreme Programming, hence, it is an effective way of collecting information from customer. The book describes how user stories can be used effectively in planning, managing and testing software development projects. It is, therefore, a very reliable source. Kelly, A. (2008). Changing Software Development: Learning to Become Agile. London: John Wiley & Sons. The author has over 25 years experience in software related jobs including tester, system admin, architect, developer, development manager, and product manager. This book explains why software development is done in organizational intelligence and change management. It helps understand how change can be accommodated in new and innovative manner. Miles, R., & Pilone, D. (2007). Head First Software Development. OReilly Media, Inc. Washington D.C: SAGE. Pilone is senior software Artitect. He has designed and implemented systems for UPS, Hughes, ARINC and the Naval Research Laboratory. Miles is a software engineer and has highly contributed to open source projects. This book gives a very easy to comprehend and a fun insight into the Agile Methodology. Pollice, G. (2006). Ethics and software development. Retrieved from http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/rational/library/may06/pollice/index.html. This website gives detailed information on ethics and software development. The author is a frequent online contributor on issues of Information technology. This source was very useful specifically on matters of ethics in software development, an area that was not discussed broadly in other sources. Read More