The (UK) Motor Industry Software Reliability Association (MISRA) has just
published a document:-
"Guidelines For The Use Of The C Language In Vehicle Based Software"
The flyer for the document says that "These guidelines primarily identify
those aspects of the C language which should be avoided in safety-related
systems..."
In Section 1.3 of the document, entitled "The use of C for safety-related
systems" it says:-
[arguments for using a restricted subset of C.] "Nonetheless, it should be
recognised that there are other languages available which are in general
better suited to safety-related systems, having (for example) fewer
insecurities and better type checking. Examples of languages generally
recognised to be more suitable than C are Ada and Modula 2. If such
languages could be available for a proposed system then their use should be
seriously considered in preference to C."
People who understand the issues (and the C language) say that the
guidelines are very good - copies cost UKP25. MISRA can be contacted on:-
web site:- http://www.misra.org.uk
email:- [log in to unmask]
tel:- +44 (0)1203 355430
fax:- +44 (0)1023 355486
Phil Thornley