Page 31 - EE Times Europe Magazine - June 2025

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Survey Tracks Sources of Automotive Software Developer Headaches

ISO 8800 standard, which can verify that a requirement that generates
a prompt is sufficient and how to return to it.
OPEN OR SHARED SOURCE?
Most of the respondents said they use open-source tools and embedded
software for automotive development. Among the respondents using
the tools, some have contributed to open-source projects (39%), up 4%
year on year, while automotive professionals using such tools without
actively contributing to open-source projects (29%) decreased by 6%.
For those who do not adopt open-source software or contribute
to open-source projects, the most common obstacles year after year
remain development time and resources (39%) and safety/security
concerns (30%). “Everybody would like to use it, but they haven’t got
the time or the energy to contribute to improving it—that’s where we
get a mismatch,” Britton said. “To be honest, it’s like that for anything
that everybody uses: A small group does most of the work.”
As for security, Britton said, “We didn’t have any major security
breaches on open source last year, which is probably giving a little
more confidence. But what I would like to see going forward is that we Interest in Rust is high, but many still question its advantages
do some native checks on it as an entity, rather than wait until it gets over stalwarts C and C++. (“The 2025 State of Automotive Software
into a product.” Development Report,” Perforce Software)
Security is always a concern “because you don’t know where changes
have been made” in the open-source version you’re using, Britton said. corresponds to the minimum risk level and ASIL-D to the maximum
Ensuring security therefore requires organizational measures: “You risk level. From A to D, compliance requirements become increasingly
need to be able to version your open source so that if something does stringent. According to the survey results, 38% of respondents said they
occur, you can go through and say that this version of the library was in were required to achieve ASIL-D, meaning that most respondents work
this version of my product, and I am going to have to work on it.” on high-risk automotive systems/components.
Rather than describe tools as open-source, Britton suggested we say Britton said, “Developers could be working on a braking system, and
“shared” source. they need to use certain aspects of the coding standard required for
ASIL-D and maybe not required for ASIL-A.”
RUST DOWN 3% And organizations that design individual components rather than
The well-established C and C++ continue to be the most commonly complete vehicle systems are subject to the same requirements: Cus-
used programming languages for automotive software development. tomers want them to comply with ASIL-D so that their designs can be
According to the survey results, C++ is still the leader (54%), followed used anywhere.
by C (44%). Interestingly, the need to achieve the lowest risk level, ASIL-A, has
“Every year, we say that C is going away and C++ is going to take increased by 5% year over year. “Some aspects of infotainment systems
over, and it [C] is always there,” Britton said. “Every time a new version are ASIL-A, some are ASIL-B, and we are increasingly integrating this
of MISRA is published, the numbers go up for that particular language.” kind of functionality into vehicles to make passengers’ lives more
The use of C++ has increased by 3% over last year, while the use of enjoyable, rather than simply transporting them safely from Point A to
C has decreased by 6% since the 2024 survey. “They [C and C++] aren’t Point B,” Britton said.
dead languages,” Britton said. “The problem with C is that it doesn’t
move on, whereas C++ moves much more quickly. We had C99, and it NO VOCATIONAL CRISIS
was another 11 years before we got C11.” In recent months, the automotive industry and its supply chain have
Interestingly, Python, the preferred language for AI/ML applications, been hit by several waves of restructuring and redundancies—and
decreased by 11% year over year. Similarly, the use of Rust decreased by automotive software developers are feeling the impact. “They are anx-
3%. All other languages increased year over year. ious,” Britton said. “Since we did the report, things have gotten worse.
Rust has been the subject of much discussion lately and could play a There’s so much uncertainty in the world. Isn’t it true that every day we
crucial role in the embedded systems market in the coming years. “Some wake up and see another thing that’s going to worry us? It doesn’t give
people are developing Rust and think it’s wonderful,” Britton said, but us a good feeling about the future.”
many still question Rust’s advantages over C and C++. As Britton pointed Among the market conditions that have most affected automotive
out, things are happening behind the scenes, but no one wants to take organizations, the global economy continues to be a leading concern
the plunge and use Rust for development. Rust is claimed to be safer, but among respondents (50%). This year, changes in human resources have
again, there are no coding standards against which to check it. also had a significant impact, with many employers in the automotive
Britton consulted with developers who deplored the lack of Rust sector outsourcing their talent and resources globally (34%).
analyzers and drivers, as well as the limited choice of Rust compilers. When asked whether the current uncertain economic outlook could
In Britton’s words, developers often say, “We have looked into it, weigh on the younger generation, Britton said that there was such a
but we don’t want to risk using Rust in an important project because high level of innovation in the automotive world, particularly in the
we have deliveries to guarantee. It is fine as an experiment, maybe as field of AI, that students would not be discouraged from pursuing a
a project within our organization, but not for anything that has to be career in automotive.
delivered. It’s still at an early stage.” “In aerospace, it takes about 10 years before anything gets into
the market, whereas with automotive, in two to three years, you will
ACHIEVING ASIL-D: A REQUIREMENT FOR 38% get some activity with something you have been working on,” she
Automotive Safety Integrity Level (ASIL) requirements are a key said. “Things are happening, and you can see the results relatively
component of the ISO 26262 functional safety standard. ASIL-A quickly.” ■

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