Software guidelines in aerospace industry have been around on one way or another since at least the 1980’s, approximately coinciding with the onset of programmable hardware designed for air-brone systems. These guidelines have evolved with time. Successive revisions have been introduced across the decades to account for compliance needs of both hardware and software side development.

The original software development document was known as DO-178 which was upgraded to DO-178A followed by DO-178B/ED-12B in 1992, and finally, to DO-178C/ED-12C in 2011. The latest revisions in DO-178C/ED-12C have been introduced to draw up a long-term plan that can satisfy the requirements of both Radio Technical Commission for Aerospace (RTCA) and European Organization for Civil Aviation Equipment (EUROCAE) . DO-178B/ED-12B has found high acceptance with all technical advisory committees due to the imbibed clarity in software development and verification.