Writing embedded software for microcontrollers that is reusable and portable can be challenging. Different microcontrollers contain different architectures and peripherals which makes creating any cross-platform...
Read More >>>Category Archives: Embedded Basics
Embedded Basics – Setting up Tracealyzer to Debug FreeRTOS Applications
Peering into a microcontroller and seeing how the embedded software is executing has always been...
Read More >>>Embedded Basics – 7 Skills Every Engineering Graduate Needs to be Successful
Engineering education focuses on the technical details and the science of how to build systems....
Read More >>>Embedded Basics – Hardware and Software Breakpoints
Every developer uses breakpoints to debug their software. It’s fundamental. Double click on the line of code that you want to break program execution on...
Read More >>>Embedded Basics – Don’t Forget about Real-time
Microcontrollers are becoming more powerful every day, causing many developers to forget the resource constrained nature that many are working within. Microcontrollers are not general...
Read More >>>Embedded Basics – Selecting the Right Watchdog Strategy
Setting a watchdog strategy is easy. Just enable the microcontrollers internal watchdog timer and setup an interrupt to occasionally clear the timer and keep the...
Read More >>>Embedded Basics – Threads vs Tasks
The 32-bit microcontroller has been increasing in capabilities and decreasing in cost which has resulted in real-time operating systems becoming the dominant scheduler in many...
Read More >>>10 Questions for a Successful Code Review
Over the years I’ve noticed a number of common gotchas when reviewing code. They’re there no matter what the size the company or how mature...
Read More >>>Ternary Operator versus the if/else statement …
When I’m teaching “C Programming for Embedded Systems”, I’m often asked whether the ternary operator should be used or an if/else statement. Hidden behind the...
Read More >>>Open Source versus Commercial Compilers
Using open source and free software seems to be engrained in the DNA of software developers. Given a choice to pay or build a developer...
Read More >>>Embedded Basics – 7 Silent Project Killers
There are few things more discouraging to an engineer than pouring their heart, sweat and tears into a project only to have it fail. Failure...
Read More >>>Embedded Basics – Becoming a firmware expert
Becoming an expert at anything is an elusive endeavor, especially when that something involves embedded software. The rate at which embedded technologies change is dizzying...
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