More than a decade ago there was a constant debate and anticipation as to when C++ would finally eclipse C and become the dominant embedded systems programming language. To this day, C still remains the dominant language and doesn’t seem to being anywhere anytime soon. Given the advances in microcontroller hardware and more importantly, the … Continue reading 5 Reasons to start using C++ over C
The C Programming language has been a dominate tool in embedded systems since its inception but as compiler and microcontroller technologies have advanced, more modern and object-oriented languages are beginning to make much more sense. I this course, Jacob Beningo will walk attendees through an introduction to C++ and demonstrate how it can be used … Continue reading CEC – Transitioning from C to C++
Object-oriented programming has become a very popular and critical programming methodology for developing applications. While traditional embedded software development has mostly been developed using the procedural language C, C++ and other object oriented languages are slowly started to gain traction in real-time systems. In order to ensure that a C++ based applications doesn’t bloat code … Continue reading Tips and Tricks – 5 Tips for Developing Real-time C++ Applications
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 the development process (and I have had the opportunity to review software for companies ranging from those with strict and bureaucratic processes to those that are more shoot-first-aim-later). In order … Continue reading 10 Questions for a Successful Code Review
The linker is probably the least talked about tool available to embedded software developers. For many, the linker is ignored for most if not the entire development cycle. Yet, the linker allows a developer to do very powerful things such as splitting up flash memory into multiple sections. Let’s look at a quick example how … Continue reading Tools – Partitioning Flash Space with the Linker
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 question is really the need to know whether the ternary operator is more efficient than if/else. One might think that compilers today would generate identical code. Let’s take a quick … Continue reading Ternary Operator versus the if/else statement …
The C programming language has been with embedded software developers since its creation in 1972. Ever since then C has been a blazing constant, surviving even the big push in the late 90’s and early 21st century to move to C++ or other object oriented languages. Undoubtedly, C will continue to be a foundational language … Continue reading It’s the end of C as we know it!
Portable Firmware …. is modular is loosely coupled has high cohesion is ANSI-C compliant has a clean interface has a Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) is readable and maintainable is simple uses encapsulation and abstract data types is well documented How well do the characteristics of your software match the qualities of portable firmware?
Embedded software engineers should be interested in writing production software that is portable and reusable. Societal demands for refreshing embedded systems every 12 – 18 months are quite demanding and starting from scratch for many systems is just not realistic. As developers we really should be interested in working on the cutting edge and not … Continue reading Tips and Tricks – Learning to write portable code using ANSI-C
Embedded software developers commonly interface with low level sensors and have a good understanding of how to work with signed and unsigned types but when it comes to strings and character types, many developers are easily confused. Take for example using ‘v’ and “v” in a definition or as a function parameter. Many developers would … Continue reading Embedded Basics – The difference of ‘ ‘ and ” “