Next week I’m heading out to the Software Assurance Forum (use SOF96945 for the conference code) in Washington D.C. (well, actually Arlington, Virginia, but D.C. sounds more glamorous). If you’re not familiar with what the SWA is, in a nutshell, its key objective is to encourage software developers to raise overall software quality and security from the start, rather than relying on applying patches to systems after vulnerabilities are discovered. Anyways, while I’m there, I’ll be taking part in 2 speaking opportunities. The first will be as part of a 6 person panel discussion entitled
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I have always loved “I’m gonna write me a new minivan” from Scott Adams. To me, it never gets old. Originally published in 1998, the theme that applied then still does today: driving 100% of defects or bugs out of the code-base is a laudable goal, but is it really the right one? I would have to argue no. There’s no silver bullet out there that will find all software defects and solve issues automagically, and until there is, software development will continue to struggle with prioritization. Unfortunately, we live in a world of finite resources and constantly evolving demands,
Read More »Klocwork Insight integration allows TI customers to take advantage of static source code analysis technology within the Code Composer Studio v4 environment BURLINGTON, Mass. – Oct 27, 2009 – Klocwork, Inc., the global leader in automated source code analysis solutions for improving developer productivity, today announced the integration of Klocwork Insight with Code Composer Studio v4 (CCStudio), the latest release of the industry-leading integrated development environment (IDE) from Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI). "Klocwork Insight’s support for the Eclipse IDE framework allows us to offer seamless integration with Code Composer Studio v4," says Alen Zukich, director
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I remember that idyllic summer day when I saw my very agile dog Maggie jumping through the sprinkler. I laughed until I cried. And then I thought: This reminds me of what I do for a living. I’m a technical writer and technical writing in an Agile environment is somewhat like chasing those water drops. You can run after those features, but early in the game there’s not really anything to hold onto. So, how does one document a feature that will probably change from one iteration (or day) to another without chasing one’s tail
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In part one of Going Agile,I talked about how we introduced Agile to our development team. This next post will look at the events that led to our first iteration planning meeting. During the weeks that led up to Iteration 1, there was much work that went on as a team, and much that each team member did individually. As the Product Owner, my biggest task was to create a backlog. Sure, I knew what the main new features were going to be, but I still needed to capture this, and add other oft-requested features
Read More »The traditional way to check software code has been for the code to be checked-in, then bugs found through testing, then debugged, before the cycle begins again. Not only is this extremely time-consuming and expensive but it also throws up the problem of other mistakes being inserted at the checking stage. However, source code analysis experts such as Klocwork have developed automated software development integrity tools that can automate the identification and assessment of software architecture flaws before the code is checked in, allowing programmers to submit bug-free code. As well as increased safety, another
Read More »In this 3 part blog series I want to cover general misconceptions with static analysis coverage. This will include a discussion about: compiler warnings available, different types of style issues including coding standards, and your available options to fit them into your formal process. Very often customers ask why we don’t cover specific checkers. We always get great feedback on high value checkers that they would like to see. But occasionally we get the request to find simple compiler warnings or code style issues. For the first part of this series I want to focus
Read More »While C dominates as the programming language of choice for embedded development, the use of Java is definitely on the rise. In fact, according to a recent VDC survey, 12.3% of respondents currently use Java in the embedded space, and 17.9% expect to be using Java in the next two years. For those transitioning from embedded development using C, you might find yourself falling into the hype that Java is a “safe” language. For example, Java developers face no requirement for managing memory associated with objects. However, this is where the trap may be laid
Read More »What can developers of military and avionics software systems do to take advantage of software reuse while ensuring that software is as bug-free and secure as possible? In all industries, software is becoming increasingly ubiquitous. Take Boeing jets as an example. At 6.5 million lines of code, Boeing’s 787 aircraft flight control system has three times more code than the 777[1]. Given this growth trend, it is both unrealistic and impractical to rewrite an entire system from scratch for each new project. The reuse of code has become a universal software development best practice. It
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