Re: Theory
This guy can say anything, as long as the certification agencies don't listen to him and still require mandatory LLR verification for level A and B SW.
Can understand why he said that, unit tests are very costly.
But I've seen enough level D software to know how ugly things can get without proper code inspections and unit tests...
------------------------------------------------------------------------
A little sidenote for those not familliar with DO-178B :
This standard defines 5 levels, from A to E, depending of the criticity of the SW.
- Level A software is for the most critical SW that may lead to a catastrophic accident (Typically, most of the onboard computers and display units are level A)
- Level D software is for the non critical parts. Mostly diagnostic tests or dataloading SW that can only be activated when the equipment is plugged in a special device are example of level D SW (as long as the selector bootstrap is level A of course)
Properly designed In Flight Entertainment SW should be classified as level C, as it may lead to an extra workload for the cabin crew - a blue screen may makes passengers quite nervous...
- Level E is a catch-all category which means "any SW not developped following DO-178B guidelines". Windows 8 Aircraft Edition for example.
...
Geez, when you have to write a sidenote longer than the actual message, you know you're doing it wrong.