Remarks: This document is part of the QP Certification Kit, which has been specifically designed to aid companies in safety certification of their software based on the QP Framework treated as commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) software.

csc_gep

Purpose and Scope

This document (Unique Identifier: DOC-QPCPP-CSC) describes the compliance of the QP/C++ Real-Time Embedded Framework as well as the Application code based on this framework with Motor Industry Software Reliability Association (MISRA) Guidelines for the use of the C++ Language in Critical Systems [MISRA-C++17].

Revision History

The revision history of the document DOC-QPCPP-CSC is as follows:

Revision	QP/C++ version	Date (YYYY-MM-DD)	By	Description
1.0	5.0.0	2018-05-30	MMS	Initial release for MISRA-C++:2008
2.0	7.3.1	2023-12-12	MMS	Initial release for MISRA-C++:2023

About MISRA-C++:2023

The About MISRA-C++:2023 coding guidelines – "Guidelines for the use of C++17 in critical systems" ([MISRA-C++17]) – were developed with the specific intention to develop a new safer C++ coding standard that would allow them to make greater use of the evolving C++ language; specifically, the modern C++11 through C++17 features.

The new MISRA-C++:2023 supersedes the existing MISRA-C++:2008 coding standard ([MISRA-C++08]), which explicitly required the use of the C++98 language version and did not allow for the modern C++ constructs to be used. This meant that developers were left with the choice of either reverting to older and more primitive versions of the C++ language, or with coding guideline rules that didn't really fit much of the new software being developed. And for safety critical software systems coding guidelines or standards are considered a key piece of the related IEC 61508 functional safety system. Thus, AUTOSAR C++ 14 was born.

MISRA-C++:2023 and Functional Safety

In the context of functional safety standards the full C++ programming language is generally not recommended. However, safer subsets of C++, such as MISRA-C++:2023, are highly recommended, especially for higher SIL levels (see [IEC-61508-3] Table A.3, [IEC-61508-7] C.4.6 Table C.1).

MISRA-C++ as a safer subset of the C++ programming language

About Coding Standard Compliance of QP/C++ Framework

The QP/C++ Framework has a long history of compliance with the safety-related coding standards. Earlier versions of QP/C++ were compliant with the MISRA-C++:2008 Standards, see [QPCPP-MCPP]. Starting with QP/C++ version 7.x, the framework was adapted for the C99 language standard and compliance with AUTOSAR-C++14 [AUTOSAR-CPP14].

References

[MISRA-C++17]	MISRA C++:2023 Guidelines for the use of C++17 in critical systems ISBN 978-1-911700-10-4 (paperback), ISBN 978-1-911700-11-1 (PDF), MISRA Consortium Limited, October 2023
[MISRA-C++08]	MISRA C++:2008 Guidelines for the use of C++ language in critical systems ISBN 978-1-906400-03-3 (paperback), ISBN 978-1-906400-04-0 (PDF), MISRA Consortium Limited, June 2008
[MISRA-Comply]	MISRA Compliance:2020 Achieving compliance with MISRA Coding Guidelines, ISBN 978-1-906400-11-8 (PDF), MIRA Limited, February 2020
[ISO-C99]	ISO/IEC 9899:1999, Programming languages — C, International Organization for Standardization, 1999
[PCLP]	Reference Manual for PC-lint® Plus™ Version 2.0, A diagnostic facility for C and C++, Vector Informatik
[PCLP-Cert]	Using PCLP in Safety Critical Applications Version 2.0, Vector Informatik
[BARR-C:2018]	BARR-C:2018 Embedded C Coding Standard, Michael Barr, ISBN-13: 978-1-72112-798-6, Barr Group 2018, (https://barrgroup.com/sites/default/files/barr_c_coding_standard_2018.pdf)
[Saks-1998]	Dan Saks, "Programming Pointers - Placing const in Declarations", Embedded Systems Programming, June 1998, (https://www.dansaks.com/articles/1998-06%20Placing%20const%20in%20Declarations.pdf)
[PSiCC2]	Practical UML Statecharts in C/C++, 2nd Edition, Event-Driven Programming for Embedded Systems, Miro Samek, ISBN 978-0750687065, Newnes 2008 (https://www.state-machine.com/psicc2)
[QPCPP-MCPP]	Application Note: QP/C++ MISRA-C++:2008 Compliance Matrix, Quantum Leaps (https://www.state-machine.com/doc/https://www.state-machine.com/doc/AN_QP-Cpp_MISRA.pdf)