Making Multivariant Programming Practical and Inexpensive

Since it was first proposed in 1978, n-version programming (NVP) has been a mainstay technique for obtaining fault tolerance in high-reliability software. Although subsequent research on NVP has indicated that coincident failures across different versions can be more common than initially expected, NVP remains the “gold standard” for application domains in which high reliability is of critical importance, such as fly-by-wire avionics control software.