Title: High-integrity agile processes for the development of safety critical software

Authors: Richard F. Paige, Andy Galloway, Ramon Charalambous, Xiaocheng Ge, Phillip J. Brooke

Addresses: Department of Computer Science, University of York, Deramore Lane, York, YO10 5GH, UK. ' Department of Computer Science, University of York, Deramore Lane, York, YO10 5GH, UK. ' Department of Computer Science, University of York, Deramore Lane, York, YO10 5GH, UK. ' Department of Computer Science, University of York, Deramore Lane, York, YO10 5GH, UK. ' School of Computing, University of Teesside, Middlesbrough, TS1 3BA, UK

Abstract: Typically, safety critical software systems are developed using plan-driven development processes. Agile processes have evolved to help reduce costs of software development and seek to minimise documentation overheads. For safety critical systems that must undergo certification, documentation is essential. The question this paper addresses is: can a process based on agile principles be used to deliver a safety critical software product, but also the evidence needed to satisfy assurance objectives? The paper makes three contributions. Firstly, it presents an analysis of agile processes and their applicability in this domain. It reviews positive indicators for their use, outlines challenges associated with their deployment and proposes strategies for addressing these challenges. Secondly, it makes a number of recommendations for adapting an agile process to the domain. Finally, the paper reports on an experiment to demonstrate the plausibility of using of an adapted agile process for building a safety critical software system.

Keywords: safety critical systems; agile processes; certification; agility; safety critical software; assurance objectives.

DOI: 10.1504/IJCCBS.2011.041259

International Journal of Critical Computer-Based Systems, 2011 Vol.2 No.2, pp.181 - 216

Published online: 11 Mar 2015 *

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