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Marcel Beemster

CTO

I love the C programming language, right from the first day I picked up K&R’s book, because it provides a direct connection with the machine at high performance. That book was destroyed by a Chinese professor with a fondness for Prolog who sat on it for reference while writing a device driver. C is that flexible. It did not stop me. C has its issues, but so has <insert your favorite language here>. My long term goal is to make sure our C programs and implementations are of the highest quality possible.

Content written by Marcel Beemster

November 12, 2025

Flying Beyond the “Black Box” of Trust

There are no intrinsic barriers to using open-source compilers in safety-critical domains. With the right process, any high-quality compiler can become a trusted...

October 15, 2025

The Black Box of Trust: Qualifying Open-Source Compilers for Safety-Critical Use

In safety-critical software development, trust is earned, not assumed, and must be built on evidence. Open-source compilers such as GCC and Clang are widely...

September 24, 2025

Avionics and the compiler trust issue

In avionics and aerospace software development, trust alone is not enough. Compilers are sophisticated tools, but because even the smallest defect in generated...

April 16, 2025

A Step-by-Step Approach to Qualifying Standard Libraries with a Suitable Software Tool

Are you looking for a solution to qualify standard libraries? The most important thing is getting the right software tool to ensure you remain...

October 9, 2024

Black box or white box? That is the question.

During our most recent webinar, SuperTest Live Demo, one of the audience members asked whether SuperTest and SuperGuard are suitable for ‘white-box’ testing...

July 18, 2024

Discover the ingredients of SuperGuard

SuperGuard is used to qualify and certify C and C++ standard libraries. It is a requirements-based test suite that provides evidence that a...

June 19, 2024

Artificial Intelligence has a mind of its own

While the dream of fully autonomous driving appears to have taken a back seat, other automotive applications of Artificial Intelligence (AI) have become...

June 17, 2024

Solid Sands launches SuperGuard Amsterdam version 1.2 with greater flexibility and modularity

Solid Sands, the world-leading provider of testing and qualification technology for compilers and libraries, has launched an updated version of its SuperGuard product,...

April 17, 2024

Compiler Exploring: Safety and Modernity

As compiler and library testers, we often find ourselves between the demands of developers and those of the functional safety industry. On the...

March 20, 2024

The ‘A’ Team comes to the rescue of code coverage analysis

Code coverage analysis… what is it and why is it vital when qualifying libraries? And why have Solid Sands and Rapita Systems got...

February 21, 2024

C++ != (C+=1)

Due to the high demand for C++ Standard Library qualification, we are actively developing tests, test specifications, and requirements for the C++ standard...

November 22, 2023

A compiler test suite that’s built for the job

We are often asked what differentiates SuperTest from open-source test suites for C and C++. If you are using the LLVM or GCC...

October 18, 2023

Creative compilers can be a safety risk

The most safety-critical software tool in your application development process is the compiler. It generates virtually all the code in the application binary....

September 13, 2023

Are we all talking the same language?

Telling the compiler which version of the language you are using is essential because it improves the portability of your code at very...

August 23, 2023

Precise control over test generation with Tempest2

In the last blog of our trilogy about test generators, we’ll explain Tempest2. You might have seen it mentioned in a previous blog...

July 20, 2023

Verifying the compiler’s pipework

Compilers are highly complex machines with two areas that deserve extra scrutiny. They are the register allocator and the calling convention. While register...

June 22, 2023

Can your compiler count to ten?

The size of integers and other primitive types is not fixed by the C/C++ programming language specifications. It is implementation-defined. Unlike unspecified and...

May 25, 2023

Assessing C and C++ toolchains used in robotics

The traditional industrial robot consists of an arm with multiple degrees of freedom and a specialized gripper. To prevent accidental injury to humans,...

April 19, 2023

Automation saves time and is more accurate

As we pointed out in the previous blog, before we qualify a compiler for a safety-critical project, it’s essential we know all the...

February 16, 2023

Before compiler qualification comes use case analysis

Compilers comprise a complex pipeline of analysis and transformation stages. Changes in one stage are frequently amplified by subsequent stages. It makes compilers...

November 16, 2022

SuperTest and Frama-C: a clash of titans

CEA List and Solid Sands entered into a partner agreement to make SuperTest available to the Frama-C team. Frama-C is a platform for...

October 20, 2022

C++ library qualification: cherry picking functions versus full headers

We are pleased to see many companies in the automotive, industrial, medical, aviation, robotics and railway industries taking the safety of critical C++...

September 14, 2022

The disadvantages of undefined behavior

In the previous blog I argued in favor of undefined behavior in C. The behaviors I was talking about, such as integer overflow,...

July 14, 2022

The advantages of leaving it undefined

Undefined behavior remains an elusive subject. On the one hand, it potentially exposes your program to dangerous situations and exploitations. On the other...

May 19, 2022

We need to talk about security

A study by the University of Turku, Finland (A Large-Scale Security-Oriented Static Analysis of Python Packages in PyPI) showed that 46% of 224,651...

February 15, 2022

Safety is important everywhere

You can choose between reading an article about bungee jumping or going out and doing it. If you choose to jump, functional safety...

November 16, 2021

Verification of floating-point accuracy is important

Floating-point values can look a lot like Real Arithmetic, but there are a lot of tricky details at the fringes. The accuracy of...

October 21, 2021

What are your options if you need to work with a qualified compiler?

You need a qualified compiler to comply with regulations as set out in ISO 26262 and other functional safety standards. Besides meeting this...

May 19, 2021

The caveats of standard library qualification

The big advantage of the standard library is that most library functions are independent of the other functions in the library, both in...

April 20, 2021

After compiler qualification comes the Application Hazard Scanner

Our Compiler Qualification Service is a fast and efficient way to get your compiler qualified. On completion, you receive a compiler qualification report...

March 23, 2021

Using libraries safely is your responsibility

Functional Safety standards require that the user of the library takes responsibility for the library, even if it comes from a third party....

Whitepaper

Code Coverage Analysis Exposes Invisible Bug in the GNU C++ Library

Code coverage analysis improves confidence in a test suite. It demonstrates which parts of the source code are actively used as a result of test execution. We run our test suite for the implementation of the C and C++ standard. Code coverage analysis tells us which lines of the library implementation are “stimulated” by the tests.