CERT coding standards consist of rules and recommendations. Rules are meant to provide normative requirements for code; recommendations are meant to provide guidance that, when followed, should improve the safety, reliability, and security of software systems. However, a violation of a recommendation does not necessarily indicate the presence of a defect in the code. Rules and recommendations are collectively referred to as guidelines.
NOTE: The CERT C++ Coding Standard does not currently expose any recommendations; all C++ recommendations have been removed pending further review and development.
Rules
Rules must meet the following criteria:
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The set of recommendations that a particular development effort adopts depends on the requirements of the final software product. Projects with stricter requirements may decide to dedicate more resources to ensuring the safety, reliability, and security of a system and consequently are likely to adopt a broader set of recommendations.The CERT C++ Coding Standard does not currently expose any recommendations; all C++ recommendations have been removed pending further review and development.