An interesting area of a code base to examine is error handling. I’ve found that many firmware and embedded software projects don’t do an excellent job managing errors and faults. … Continue reading Firmware Error Handling using Do while Loops
Category: Design Cycle
Are Multiple Languages Needed for Embedded Systems?
Over the last couple of months, I’ve been writing several articles at embedded.com that explore programming languages and embedded software architecture. For example, in Is it time to retire C?, … Continue reading Are Multiple Languages Needed for Embedded Systems?
4 Tactics to Unit Test RTOS Tasks
More than 50% of all embedded software projects use Real-time Operating Systems (RTOS). Unfortunately, using an RTOS can pose several problems to developers looking to use modern development techniques such … Continue reading 4 Tactics to Unit Test RTOS Tasks
A Simple Script to Automate C Module Creation
During development, a very common activity is to create new C modules. Creating a new C module often comes with a bunch of repetitive work. For example, if you are … Continue reading A Simple Script to Automate C Module Creation
3 Tips for Evaluating your Codes Quality
One of the biggest impediments to delivering embedded software in a timely manner is the codes structural quality. Code quality in a project often starts okay but quickly deteriorates as … Continue reading 3 Tips for Evaluating your Codes Quality
The Secret Embedded Software Definition Experts Use
Scour the web for “embedded software definition”, “what is embedded software?” or definition of embedded software. You’ll find a wide range of articles that state something like the following: “Embedded … Continue reading The Secret Embedded Software Definition Experts Use
5 Strategies for Minimizing Debug Time
If you have spent time developing a product or a DIY project in the embedded systems industry, you know that a lot of time is spent debugging. It’s not uncommon … Continue reading 5 Strategies for Minimizing Debug Time
3 Tips for Data-Centric Software Design
An elegant solution to many embedded software systems problems is leveraging data-centric software design. Data is at the heart of every embedded system. First, data is acquired through sampling sensors, … Continue reading 3 Tips for Data-Centric Software Design
3 Tips for using Rapid Application Development (RAD) Tools
Software engineers love to write code. Give a software engineer a tool that writes the code for them, and they will come up with a million reasons why they should … Continue reading 3 Tips for using Rapid Application Development (RAD) Tools
3 Tips for Avoiding “Reactive” Engineering
Over the years, I’ve noticed that engineering teams fall into two camps: reactive and proactive. As one might guess, the most successful teams are proactive. They identify potential problems before … Continue reading 3 Tips for Avoiding “Reactive” Engineering