Towards Agile Engineering of High-Integrity Systems

Suitability of Agile Methods for Safety-Critical Systems Development: A Survey of Literature

“…Paige [12] studied agile in the development of high-integrity systems, including the analysis of elements in agile and the adaption of agile processes. Their main finding was that agile methods can be adapted to safety-critical development by not replacing plan driven processes, but applying them in appropriate tasks.…”

Assessment of Risks Introduced to Safety Critical Software by Agile Practices — A Software Engineer’s Perspective

“…A more complex and well described model was presented by Paige et al [27]. They collated agile and safety principles and demonstrated the key challenges that need to be addressed when formulating a hybrid approach.…”

“…As a result, their approach was put to the test as their solutions proved to be insufficient in some aspects. They concluded that although "XP and Aps (Agile practices) in general were not designed with safety-critical systems development in mind, they can be adapted to that sort of development", "it is rather unlikely that level A software can be produced in the near future with the modifications made to the process so far" [27].…”

“…While agile approaches have gained an almost immediate acclaim among SMEs and companies involved in non-critical projects, they were received with much distrust by larger companies and software engineers engaged in long-term and/or critical projects. In the case of such projects, the predictability and stability of plan-driven methodologies can bring expected profits [27] by facilitating the certification processes and establishing a repetitive quality. The up-front analysis and rigorous documentation provide valuable foundations for further risk management and process traceability [12].…”

AgileSafe – a method of introducing agile practices into safety-critical software development processes

“…A growing body of evidence, including industrial reports, shows that obtaining the right balance is doable and profitable especially when the companies decide to employ competent experts to develop a custom made approach. Examples of such reports can be found in [2], [3], [4], [5] and were surveyed in [6]. What is more, in 2012 FDA (Food and Drug Administration) recognized the AAMI TIR45:2012 -Guidance on the use of AG-ILE practices in the development of medical device software [7].…”