Going for Gold

Going for Gold

Dec 18, 2024

In the second of a two-part article, we continue our look at DO-178C, and the efforts behind compliance at every stage.

As was discussed in our previous article (‘Making Do with safety Standards’, Aerospace Innovations Q3 October) DO-178C was introduced to address several deficiencies and ambiguities in DO-178B. The revision primarily sought to enhance clarity, reflect modern software engineering practices, and provide better guidance on using advanced technologies without increasing the effort needed to demonstrate compliance.

The revision was necessary to align the standard with technological advancements and to address the evolving complexities in software development, ensuring that the standard remains relevant and effective in mitigating risks in safety-critical software.

According to Dr Daniel Wright, technical writer at Rapita, DO-178C is used not only in the context of civil avionics, but is often seen as the gold standard for safety-critical software verification in other contexts, and many of the principles of DO-178C are used by standards in other fields such as military avionics or space software.

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