Course Overview

The C programming language continues to be one of the most widely used languages in embedded systems design. Despite its popularity, C is no longer taught at universities and most industry courses just teach the fundamentals. There’s no good source for developers who want to take their C programming skills to the expert level in a practical way that can be used even in robust embedded systems.

This technology primer is designed to provide developers expert tips, tricks and insights about how to use C to build real-time embedded systems. The primer includes 52 in-depth blog posts and 12 deep-dive videos covering everything from professional coding conventions to RTOS design patterns.

Essential Topics Covered

• Professional coding conventions and software development lifecycle
• Assertions, Design by Contract, and error handling strategies
• Function pointers, state machines, and command parsers
• Watchdog timer strategies and implementation
• Hardware Abstraction Layers (HAL) and portable firmware design
• Testing strategies: TDD, cyclomatic complexity, hardware-in-loop
• RTOS selection, task decomposition, and application design
• Embedded system security and MPU usage

Deep-Dive Video Topics

1. Developing Expert C Programs
2. Implementing Real-Time Assertions
3. Writing a Baremetal Cooperative Scheduler
4. Writing a portable and maintainable command parser
5. Implementing State Machines in C
6. Managing Faults in Embedded Systems
7. Strategies for effective Watchdogs
8. Writing Reusable Peripheral Drivers for MCUs
9. Improving Embedded Software Testing
10. How to Select a Real-Time Operating System
11. How to Select the Right Microcontroller for your Application

Blog Post Library

The primer includes 52 in-depth blog posts covering the full spectrum of expert C techniques:

• Professional Coding Conventions
• Writing MISRA-C Compliant Software
• Best Practices for using Interrupts
• Design by Contract and Real-Time Assertions
• Designing a Baremetal Cooperative Scheduler
• Implementing an efficient command parser
• State Machine Implementation Techniques
• Strategies for Handling Errors
• Watchdog Timer Strategies and Best Practices
• The HAL Design Process and Reusable Peripheral Drivers
• Testing Strategies for Real-Time Embedded Systems
• Test Driven Development
• RTOS Application Task Decomposition
• Best Practices for Securing an Embedded System
• Leveraging the MPU for Safety and Security
• And 37 more in-depth articles…