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Is there any reason not to use the latest version of MISRA C guidelines?
I am contemplating on purchasing a personal copy of the MISRA C guideline document. Looking at their website shows several different versions - MISRA C:2025, MISRA C:2012 3rd ed., MISRA C:2004, etc.
Is there any reason not to use the latest version of the document? Is there something to be aware of before purchasing a particular version of the document?
1 answer
There have only been 3 major updates of MISRA C historically. The MISRA committee call these C1, C2 and C3 in their internal lingo. They are very different from each other:
- The original early guidelines in 1998 ("MISRA C1").
- A major updated/reworked version in 2004 ("MISRA C2") which was the first to reach mainstream success. It only supported C89.
- A major updated/reworked version in 2012 ("MISRA C3"), with a lot of sensible fixes and support for C89 + C99.
Then there have been addendums/amendments and technical corrigendum ("TC") to these. One such addendum to MISRA C:2012 added support for C11. MISRA C works kind of like most other technical standards - you can only let addendums and TC pile up so much before you need to release a new version. This is what MISRA C:2023 was - a consolidated version with all updates from 2012 to 2023. It is still largely the same document as MISRA C:2012 however.
More details here: How to introduce or port my microcontroller project to MISRA C?
Then there have been addendums in turn to MISRA C:2023, which may or may not be relevant to you. I guess MISRA prefers to release consolidated versions over addendums/TC these days, for the sake of simplicity perhaps.
Is there any reason not to use the latest version of MISRA C guidelines?
Not really, unless you are (like me) maintaining a lot of old code bases with MISRA C:2004 compliance. Then you would need an older version of the document and of the static analysis tools as well.
Is there something to be aware of before purchasing a particular version of the document?
Yes, don't buy an older version unless you are aware of the various addendums/TC. I'm not sure if they are even selling the older versions still. But it is obviously kind of painful to check up the rules while having one main document + a bunch of extra documents on the side at the same time. Check what version your static analyzer claims to follow though - your tools need to be of the same version as the document you are referring to.
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