Chapter 43 — Industry or public-service practice

Chapter 43 — Industry or public-service practice

Lesson map

Lesson 43 published. Map, example, EX127.

flowchart TD
  N0["Learning outcomes"]
  N1["43.1 Placement"]
  N2["43.2 Standards in practice"]
  N3["43.3 Professional conduct"]
  N4["Synthesis"]
  N0 --> N1 --> N2 --> N3 --> N4
  N4 --> EX["Worked example"]
  EX --> Q["Exercise EX127"]

Logical drawing

flowchart LR
  N0["Learning outcomes"]
  N1["43.1 Placement"]
  N2["43.2 Standards in practice"]
  N3["43.3 Professional conduct"]
  N4["Synthesis"]
  N0 --> N1 --> N2 --> N3 --> N4 --> Q["EX127"]

[Learning outcomes]
    |
    v
[43.1 Placement]
    |
    v
[43.2 Standards in practice]
    |
    v
[43.3 Professional conduct]
    |
    v
[Synthesis]
    |
    v
[Worked example] --> [Exercise EX127]

Learning outcomes

You will (1) work within a professional organisation; (2) apply standards in practice; (3) reflect on professional conduct.

43.1 Placement

Jonas spends a term with the fictional audit firm Northgate Assurance, which reviews smart contracts for public-sector and cooperative clients. He joins reviews under supervision, using the EthTrust Security Levels and the SWC registry as structured references. He learns how a professional review is scoped, how findings are rated and written, and how client confidentiality is protected. Practice shows him that technical skill is only part of the job; clear communication and careful scoping matter just as much. He keeps a reflective log.

43.2 Standards in practice

At Northgate, reviewers record which EthTrust requirements were tested and the result for each, as the specification asks of conformance claims, and include the compiler options and metadata. Jonas notices that clients often misunderstand what a review guarantees, so reports include an explicit statement that certification does not guarantee freedom from all vulnerabilities. He helps write a plain-language summary template for non-technical clients, which the firm adopts. Clients receive both the technical report and the summary, and Jonas collects feedback showing that board members of client organisations found the summary easier to act on.

43.3 Professional conduct

Jonas reflects on conduct: never discussing a client's unfixed findings outside the engagement; refusing to rate a finding lower to please a client; and declining to review code where he has a conflict of interest, such as a classmate's project. When a client asks for a review to be completed faster by skipping tests, his supervisor explains how to negotiate scope honestly instead. These experiences give practical meaning to the ethics he studied in chapter ten. He records each lesson.

Worked example

Jonas joins EthTrust-based reviews at Northgate Assurance, helps create a plain-language summary template, and observes how scope pressure is handled honestly.

Synthetic case. Northgate Assurance, clients and events are synthetic; EEA EthTrust and the SWC registry are real sources.

Errors and limits

Lowering a finding's rating to please a client undermines the purpose of review.

Exercises

• EX127 — Placement firm. Where does Jonas do his placement? Rubric: 3 = Northgate Assurance, an audit firm;; 2 = audit firm;; 1 = bank;; 0 = none.
• EX128 — Report statement. What explicit statement do reports include? Rubric: 3 = certification does not guarantee freedom from all vulnerabilities;; 2 = limits;; 1 = guarantee;; 0 = none.
• EX129 — Conflict example. What conflict of interest is declined? Rubric: 3 = reviewing a classmate's project;; 2 = classmate;; 1 = vague;; 0 = none.

Synthesis

Professional practice combines structured standards, clear communication and principled conduct.

Continue studying — chapter 43 of 50

← Chapter 42 (draft) · Course chapter index · Chapter 44 (draft) →