A high order approach to flight software development and testing

The use of a software development facility is discussed as a means of producing a reliable and maintainable ECS software system, and as a means of providing efficient use of the ECS hardware test facility. Principles applied to software design are given, including modularity, abstraction, hiding, and uniformity. The general objectives of each phase of the software life cycle are also given, including testing, maintenance, code development, and requirement specifications. Software development facility tools are summarized, and tool deficiencies recognized in the code development and testing phases are considered. Due to limited lab resources, the functional simulation capabilities may be indispensable in the testing phase.