C++ in safety critical systems

The safety and reliability of software is influenced by the choice of implementation language and the choice of programming idioms. C++ is gaining popularity as the implementation language of choice for large software projects because of its promise to reduce the complexity and cost of their construction. But is C++ an appropriate choice for such projects? An assessment of how well C++ fits into recent software guidelines for safety critical systems is presented along with a collection of techniques and idioms for the construction of safer C++ code.