Embedded software configuration management can be a tricky endeavor. Systems today are often designed to work in multiple products, for various customers, over long-time frames. These systems require the ability to be easily configured so that the code does not become a nightmare and minimize the chances of improperly configuring them. In this post, we … Continue reading 3 Tips for Embedded Software Configuration Management
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5 Tips for Versioning Embedded Software
As you know, embedded software changes at a dramatic rate. How we manage software version information dramatically affects whether we can successfully understand the differences between those versions. Several years ago, I wrote a blog entitled 5 Tips for Versioning Embedded Systems. Today’s post will explore a few tips for versioning embedded software. Tip #1 … Continue reading 5 Tips for Versioning Embedded Software
3 Overlooked Embedded Software Elements
Have you ever wondered, while you and your team are busy writing software if the very foundation of how embedded software systems are built has changed and left you in the dust? What if while you were busily focusing on getting your product out the door, fighting bugs, and dealing with supply issues, there were … Continue reading 3 Overlooked Embedded Software Elements
5 Tips for Becoming More Agile
Nearly every embedded software team I encounter is interested in becoming more agile. Adopting Agile practices can dramatically improve how agile a team is. Businesses and developers all want to be able to deliver faster. We don’t want the headache of late and buggy code, yet we often just accept that is what life is … Continue reading 5 Tips for Becoming More Agile
2022 FIRST Robotics Competition – Team 7769
Back in the year 1998, the FIRST Robotics Competition gave me the opportunity to be involved in my first major engineering project. As a member of Team 67 (Heros of Tomorrow), which was sponsored by the General Motors Proving Grounds in Milford, MI, I had the opportunity to be mentored by engineers and get hands-on … Continue reading 2022 FIRST Robotics Competition – Team 7769
5 Tips for Rapid Prototyping with the Raspberry Pi Pico
Over the last several years, Raspberry Pi’s have proliferated into all sorts of applications. As a microcontroller-focused embedded software consultant, I’ve always found them fun and interesting, but not exactly my cup of tea. However, in January 2021, the Raspberry Pi Pico was released which at its heart has an RP2040 dual-core microcontroller based on … Continue reading 5 Tips for Rapid Prototyping with the Raspberry Pi Pico
The Ternary Operator Revisited
Several years ago, I wrote a blog post entitled Ternary Operator vs. if/else, which was supposed to be an interesting comparison between the two, except that I totally botched it! The premise is that the ternary operator and if/else statements should compile into identical, so why not just use if/else statements to make the code … Continue reading The Ternary Operator Revisited
5 C++ Tricks for C Programmers
Over the past several years, C++ has become a more popular language to use in embedded systems than C. Don’t get me wrong, C will continue to be a dominant language for years to come, but C++ offers developers modern tools to leverage when designing more reusable, scalable, and portable code. Teams aren’t just abandoning … Continue reading 5 C++ Tricks for C Programmers
Solutions to the 7 Silent Project Killers
Several years ago, I wrote an article entitled “The 7 Silent Project Killers”. Over the years, I’ve had several people comment, email, and request that I also provide potential solutions. I’ve generally, tongue in cheek, commented that I save those for my clients. However, in today’s post, we’ll explore a few potential solutions to several … Continue reading Solutions to the 7 Silent Project Killers
3 Strategies for Embedded Software Error Handling
Embedded software error handling is something that teams often struggle with. It’s very tempting to assume that a system will behave as perfectly in the field as it does on the engineering bench. However, embedded software is written under the best of conditions during development. The developer knows their own concept of how the system … Continue reading 3 Strategies for Embedded Software Error Handling