Asking about a resource about programming language specification

[andraantariksa]

no formal language specification, can prevent legal use in some domains (aviation, medical, …).

Can you give me the further resource about it?

[ralfbiedert]

Disclaimer, I haven't worked with certified software, so I only have 2nd hand knowledge.

Some pointers:

• SO question regarding programming languages in aviation, and another one about operating systems
• SO question about compiler qualification
• Wikipedia on DO-178B, DO-178C and avionics software

Basic narrative is:

• Avionics & co have stringent design and traceability requirements
• A certified compiler dramatically helps mapping those requirements to verified machine output
• The agreements that come with purchasing a certified compiler also help mitigate legal risk (if your plane ever crashes and it turns out it was a compiler bug the "but the people on the internet said it would work"-defense might not fly; pun mildly intended)

I'm closing this issue since it's not actionable, but feel free to post follow-up.