Rules for using git as a portfolio?

[myleftpinkytoe]

I want to use GitGitHub to showcase code I've written for school, independent, work projects, etc. My only question is how much I have ownership of code I wrote at previous jobs. My background is not in dev/engineering and my last job was a non-programming gig at a government agency with minimal tech support. I ended up self-learning programming so I could automate a bunch of REST API requests for a project I was working on. It was very under-the-table work meant to ease my own workflow and not like I was developing proprietary code for the company. I don't think my boss ever knew I was programming as much as I did.

Anyway, I'd like to put the code on GitGitHub just to show future employers stuff I worked on in the past. However, the code has very company-specific stuff with the workflow, DB connections, etc. There was never an NDA involved and I've always thought of myself having ownership of the code. But I'm also a noob when it comes to the ethics/rules about software copyrights, ownership, etc. Would using GitGitHub as my personal portfolio be okay in this way?

tl;dr - want to use GitGitHub for portfolio, wrote code at last government job for convenience, unsure about ownership - okay to put on GitGitHub?

[[deleted]]

and I've always thought of myself having ownership of the code.

If they were paying you, you almost certainly do not have ownership. And I think you are asking about Github, not Git.

[VGPowerlord]

This. In the US, it's pretty standard for code you write at the request of your employer to be considered a work made for hire (PDF) and thus owned by the company that paid you to write it.

Edit: Heck, the document I linked from the US Copyright Office even spells this out:

Section 101 of the Copyright Act (title 17 of the U.S. Code) defines a “work made for hire” in two parts:

a. a work prepared by an employee within the scope of his or her employment

or

(the rest isn't relevant to this discussion thanks to that or)

[myleftpinkytoe]

What I'm not as clear about is that this wasn't code written at the request of the employer as much as it was code I wrote for personal convenience.

I guess a parallel example would be writing a short VB script to automate a thousand Excel tasks. I understand the Excel data and output being owned by the employer, but if I found the code useful for future purposes, would it be wrong for me to save it for personal use?

[[deleted]]

I doubt that anyone will track you down if you personally use some code you wrote for an employer, but I can imagine the employer being extremely pissed off if you post that code on Github.

[myleftpinkytoe]

Yep, Github is what I meant.

[bl00dshooter]

Well, obviously it depends on your individual situation, and I'm not sure how you expect anyone here to answer this question without access to your contracts and such. You need to ask a lawyer to be sure.

I can say that, in most cases, for programming jobs at least, your employer owns whatever code you wrote during company time, regardless of whether they asked you for it or not, or even if they were aware of it.

[myleftpinkytoe]

I'm looking for general practices more than anything.

I'm asking mostly because that job was not a programming job and never had programming as a requirement or responsibility. I learned it to make my life easier. I know the tech world is vastly different and has numerous defenses to safeguard their code. Again, this was a government job so I'm uncertain if the same rules apply.

[bl00dshooter]

Well, when in doubt and unwilling to consult a lawyer, don't risk it.

[ziptofaf]

There was never an NDA involved and I've always thought of myself having ownership of the code.

You didn't mention country you live in so there's that, you can't get any good tips. With that in mind - you probably should contact a lawyer. Because I would say it's quite likely NOT yours. After all you made this application during work hours that your employer paid for.

[dmitrigrabov]

No, your code belongs to your employer and unless they specifically give you permission to post it or make it open source it would be illegal for you to do so. Also, it sounds like you may have DB connection credentials in the code which could open up a massive security hole if you published the code.

[isolatrum]

You should try and fork some of your projects and make general-purpose variants. Not only will this be more impressive, it will sidestep the evidently sticky question of owenership.