High integrity software explained

High-integrity software is software whose failure may cause serious damage with possible "life-threatening consequences." "Integrity is important as it demonstrates the safety, security, and maintainability of... code."^[1] Examples of high-integrity software are nuclear reactor control, avionics software, automotive safety-critical software and process control software.^{[2] [3]}

A number of standards are applicable to high-integrity software, including:

• DO-178C, Software Considerations in Airborne Systems and Equipment Certification^[4]
• CENELEC EN 50128, Railway applications - Communication, signalling and processing systems - Software for railway control and protection systems^[5]
• IEC 61508, Functional Safety of Electrical/Electronic/Programmable Electronic Safety-related Systems (E/E/PE, or E/E/PES)
• ISO 26262, Road Vehicles - Functional Safety (especially 'part 6' of the standard, which is titled "Product development at the software level"^[6]

See also

• Safety-critical system
• High availability software
• Formal methods
• Software of unknown pedigree

External links

• Book: Boulanger . Jean-Louis . CENELEC 50128 and IEC 62279 Standards . 13 April 2015 . John R. Wiley and Sons . 978-1-84821-634-1 .
• Book: Winter . Victor L. . Bhattacharya . Sourav . High Integrity Software . 2001 . Springer Science+Business Media, LLC . 978-1-4613-5530-4 . Feb 14, 2022.
• Book: Wallace . Dolores R. . Ippolito . Laura M. . Kuhn . D. Richard . High Integrity Software Standards and Guidelines . 1992 . National Institute of Standards and Technology . Feb 15, 2022.

Notes and References

1. Web site: What Is Software Integrity? Overview + Software Integrity Best Practices . perforce.com . Feb 15, 2022.
2. Book: Sennett . C.T. . High-Integrity Software . 2012 . Springer Science & Business Media . 978-1-4684-5777-3 . 1 . Feb 14, 2022.
3. Web site: Chapman . Rod . September 4, 2024 . Correctness by Construction: The Case for Constructive Static Verification . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20060930110232/https://samate.nist.gov/SSATTM_Content/papers/Correctness%20by%20Construction%20-%20Chapman.pdf . September 30, 2006 . September 4, 2024 . National Institute of Standards and Technology.
4. Web site: Developing DO-178B/C Compliant Software for Airborne Systems . Parasoft . Feb 14, 2022.
5. Web site: European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC) . CENELEC - EN 50128 . Engineering360 . Feb 14, 2022.
6. Web site: Qi Van Eikema . Hommes . January 25, 2012 . ASSESSMENT OF THE ISO 26262 STANDARD, "ROAD VEHICLES – FUNCTIONAL SAFETY" . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20150714231041/https://www.volpe.dot.gov/sites/volpe.dot.gov/files/docs/Assessment%20of%20the%20ISO%2026262%20Standard%2C%20%E2%80%9CRoad%20Vehicles%20%E2%80%93%20Functional%20Safety%E2%80%9D.pdf . July 14, 2015 . September 4, 2024 . U.S. Department of Transportation Volpe Center.