ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the Software configuration management (SCM) activities that are required by DO-178C and that are considered best practices in any safety-critical domain. SCM reduces these issues by coordinating the work and effort of multiple people working on the same project. SCM is the responsibility of everyone involved in the software development process. The SCM Plan ensures that the SCM team and the project team are aware of the procedures, duties, and responsibilities they are to carry out during the project to support and maintain SCM. Configuration identification provides the starting point for other SCM activities; it is the first major SCM function that needs to be started in a project. Once a configuration item is baselined, changes are documented. Configuration status accounting involves recording and reporting information that is needed to effectively manage the software development and verification effort. Software change is a way of life for safety-critical systems.
