Unfortunately, my embedded software development co-pilot (An original Saleae Logic probe that I’ve had for a decade) bit the dust the other night. I was working late and accidentally connected one of the channels to a 12-volt signal when the analyzer was designed for 5V with 10V overvoltage protection. (Yes, that means another article on … Continue reading 3 Tips for Repurposing Development Boards for Testing
Category: Testing
Book Review: Test-Driven Development for Embedded C
Author: James Grenning Published: 2011 Target Audience: Any Jacob’s Rating: 5+ Stars Book Link: https://pragprog.com/titles/jgade/test-driven-development-for-embedded-c/ Test-Driven Development for Embedded C is one of those foundational books that every embedded software engineer should read. I first read the book probably back in 2013 or 2014 just as I was starting to become a full-time consultant. The … Continue reading Book Review: Test-Driven Development for Embedded C
Cyclomatic Complexity Measurements with pmccabe
A common question that I often receive is “What McCabe Cyclomatic Complexity tools should I use?” Now this is always a partially loaded question because while there are quite a few out there that I really like, most developers are really asking what free tools I can recommend to them. One of my favorite ones … Continue reading Cyclomatic Complexity Measurements with pmccabe
Where oh Where are My Test Points!
For the umpteenth time in my career, I am debugging a prototype board that has exactly zero test points. I didn’t design this board, but have inherited it from a frantic colleague who is behind schedule and is having trouble communicating with an onboard SPI device. The first step in this troubleshooting endeavor is to … Continue reading Where oh Where are My Test Points!
Hardware In-Loop Testing
Hardware In-Loop (HIL) testing runs the test case code on the target microcontroller rather than using a mocked software layer to act as the hardware. HIL testing can be extremely useful for verifying that hardware accesses from a HAL are working as expected and even test that all outputs from the system work as expected. … Continue reading Hardware In-Loop Testing