Trends in Embedded Software Engineering

Software´s importance in the development of embedded systems has been growing rapidly over the last 20 years. Because of current embedded systems´ complexity, they require sophisticated engineering methods for systematically developing high-quality software. Embedded software development differs from IT system development in several ways. For example, IT systems developers can use standard hardware and software platforms and don´t face the resource requirements that embedded systems developers must take into account. To meet embedded software´s extrafunctional requirements, embedded systems development is shifting from programming to model-driven development. Another important trend is the emphasis on the quality assurance of safety-related systems.