Software developed to scan millions of lines of software in minutes rather than days
NASA has developed software capable of searching millions of lines of code for errors in minutes, rather than days, in a bid to eliminate simple bugs that could lead to the loss of a mission.
The "C" Global Surveyor (CGS) software removes the need for manual checking of code written in software language C. During tests with code used on NASA's Deep Space One probe and one of the agency's two Mars rovers, it took 25min to check hundreds of thousands of lines of code. However, the software cannot fix errors that it finds.
Guillaume Brat, project researcher at NASA's Ames Research Center, says: "Eliminating bugs is important for NASA because even simple software bugs can lead to the loss of a mission."
The agency's computer scientists hope later versions will help programmers write code more quickly and check software written for the 2009 Mars Science Laboratory Mission. That code will be written in the C++ computer language.
ROB COPPINGER / LONDON
Source: Flight International