Avionics systems software development according to the methodologies conforming DO-178B

Avionics systems software of modern aircraft must fulfil rigorous requirements of reliability because of executing critical tasks which have a direct impact on flight safety (safety critical software). Development of such software is a tremendous project which main goal is to produce software according to the methodology con-forming DO-178B guidelines. The paper answers the question how generally known and widely used standards for software development influence the reliability of software being developed. Special emphasis was placed on the coding phase (development of the source code). The paper presents examples of software bugs that result from lack of adherence (or violation) to rules and guidelines of standards. It discusses their impact on the software and generally on the system, and their consequences. Basing on own experience, the author convinces that obeying the standards not only unifies both documentation and the source code making them more readable and maintainable but also, what is of key importance from reliability point of view, prevents producing software bugs.

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