What are we assessing: compliance, adequacy or function?

The article is based on the authors´ experience and primarily on experience of assessing safety related programmable electronic systems (PESs). Therefore the thoughts expressed are directed principally towards safety, or lack of it, and PESs. The authors believe that it is possible to identify at least three important components of assessment, addressing three different aspects of what it is that the authors are trying to assess: assessment of compliance (the objective assessment of a system´s compliance with a standard or standards); assessment of adequacy (the subjective assessment a system´s fitness for purpose); and assessment of function (the validation of a system to assess whether it fulfils its specified functions)