Why AdaCore and the Ada Programming Language Matter for Safety-Critical Systems

A programming language built for reliability

The Ada programming language has been around for decades, but its role in modern engineering is more relevant than ever. Unlike C++, Ada includes specifications and constraints that allow engineers to verify behaviour directly in the code. This is invaluable in industries where mistakes are unacceptable –  aerospace & defence, automotive, medical, and industrial.

The company behind Ada’s continued growth is AdaCore, the maintainer of the open-source Ada compiler and developer of the SPARK subset for formal verification. Without AdaCore, Ada would likely have remained a niche language with no widely supported toolchain. Instead, it has become a cornerstone for high-integrity embedded development.

Safety, cybersecurity, and ISO 26262

Software failure in a car, aircraft, or medical device can have catastrophic consequences. Recalls are costly, but the risks to human life are far greater. This is where Ada and SPARK make a difference. Formal methods built into the language allow engineers to mathematically prove that properties like the absence of buffer overflows hold true across the codebase.

In the automotive sector, ISO 26262 certification is the benchmark for functional safety. Achieving compliance requires exhaustive testing, documentation, and traceability. By using SPARK, developers can prove compliance in ways that traditional testing cannot match. This approach reduces integration risks and helps manufacturers meet safety standards more efficiently.

Beyond Ada: AdaCore’s next steps

AdaCore is not only maintaining and evolving Ada but also extending its expertise to other languages. The company has begun developing a Rust offering, aiming to deliver the same level of reliability and verification tools that Ada engineers depend on. This strategy ensures AdaCore remains at the centre of safety-critical software, regardless of which language developers choose.

The future of trustworthy software

With formal verification, safety-focused design, and an expanding toolset, Ada and AdaCore are setting a standard that goes beyond compliance. They are building a framework for software that engineers — and the public — can trust.

As embedded systems continue to shape industries from automotive to aerospace & defence, the demand for reliability will only grow. The combination of AdaCore and the Ada programming language shows that the future of safety-critical software is not just about writing code — it is about writing code that cannot fail.