CppDepend
Automotive — Process

Automotive SPICE (ASPICE) for C/C++ Software Teams with CppDepend

How CppDepend supports ASPICE process capability: SWE.3 detailed design and unit construction, SWE.4 unit verification, coding standards and measurable quality evidence.

Automotive SPICE (ASPICE) — the automotive adaptation of ISO/IEC 330xx (former ISO 15504) — assesses the capability of automotive software development processes. OEMs increasingly require ASPICE levels from suppliers. For engineering teams, the most code-centric process areas are SWE.3 (software detailed design and unit construction) and SWE.4 (software unit verification), where coding standards, static analysis and documented verification results are expected work products.

ASPICE Expectations at the Code Level

  • SWE.3 BP5/BP6: units are developed according to documented coding guidelines and the detailed design.
  • SWE.4 BP1/BP2: verification criteria for software units — including static analysis results — are defined and applied.
  • Consistency and traceability: design, code and verification artifacts must stay aligned.
  • Measurable quality: objective evidence that the process actually runs, not just exists on paper.

How CppDepend Supports ASPICE Assessments

  • Coding guidelines as executable rules: built-in MISRA C/C++ plus custom CQLinq rules make your coding standard measurable and enforceable.
  • Detailed-design compliance: architecture validation checks that the implementation matches the intended component structure.
  • Unit verification evidence: per-unit complexity, coupling and violation metrics exported as SWE.4 work products.
  • Repeatable process: the same automated checks run locally and in CI — exactly the consistency assessors look for.
  • Trend data: quality trends demonstrate continuous process execution across sprints and releases.

Built-in vs. custom standards. CppDepend ships built-in rule sets for MISRA C/MISRA C++, CWE, CERT C/CERT C++ and AUTOSAR C++14. Functional-safety and industry standards like this one are enforced through custom CQLinq rules, architecture validation and quality gates defined by your team.

Related Industries & Case Studies

Related Coding Standards

ISO 26262 · MISRA C++ · AUTOSAR C++14 · ISO 21434

See what CppDepend reveals in your codebase

Run the analysis on your own projects: coding standards, architecture validation, technical debt and quality gates — in minutes.