1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Creating Opportunities through Defense Engineering Requirements Act of 2019 or the CODER Act of 2019 . 2. Establishment of acquisition pathways for software applications and software upgrades (a) Guidance required Not later than March 1, 2020, the Secretary of Defense shall establish guidance authorizing the use of acquisition pathways described in subsection (b) for the rapid acquisition of software applications and software upgrades that are intended to be fielded within one year. A contract awarded under this section— (1) shall be in an amount equal to or less than $50,000,000; and (2) may be entered into for a period of not more than one year. (b) Software acquisition pathways The guidance required by subsection (a) shall provide for the use of the following two acquisition pathways: (1) Applications The applications pathway shall provide for the use of rapid development and implementation of software applications to be used with commercially available hardware. (2) Upgrades The upgrades pathway shall provide for the rapid development and insertion of software upgrades for embedded weapon systems or another hardware system solely used by the Department of Defense. (c) General requirements The guidance required by subsection (a) shall provide for— (1) the use of proven technologies and solutions to continuously engineer, update, and deliver capabilities in software