That explains a lot! Never worked with certified code, but I see how it makes sense.
Do the vendor compilers have a very focused feature set as a result? To reduce both test surface area and chance of expensive mistakes?
Re:Modern C for C++ Peeps
by moloch-hai on Sunday January 08, 2023 @01:00PM
(#34301369)
Mainly their own costs. They have a captive market, and tooling is a "cost center".
With a vendor supplied compiler you can say, "We're using version 11.2". A year or two later an issue is discovered, the vendor will backport a fix to 11.2 giving you 11.2.1 which is much less effort for recertification. You aren't depending on the kindness of strangers (a terrible strategy) because you're actually paying someone to do the work.