These blog posts are about development tools of relevance to embedded software designers.
Learn practical and easy-to-apply software process improvements that even the smallest design teams can use to make firmware easier to code, debug and test, with a tools cost of less than $600.
The safety and security of every embedded system is dependent upon proper operation of the stack (or stacks, if there are multiple). If a stack overflow occurs, a major or minor malfunction is very likely to follow. Despite this, the stack in the majority of embedded systems is sized based on nothing more than a hunch. As well, run-time stack monitoring is too seldom used.
Metaphors and analogies can be valuable tools for learning new software concepts and tapping subject matter expertise during embedded software development.
Barr Group's 2016 Embedded Systems Safety & Security Survey had participation from more than 2,500 embedded systems design engineers and revealed a number of interesting trends in the embedded industry.
It’s a fact: When you create code, you create bugs. Listen in as we present the finer points of Test-Driven Development (TDD) - a game-changing approach to embedded software development that can greatly reduce bugs early in the development process. TDD is not a debugging technique but rather an approach to proactively preventing defects.
Many embedded systems have reliability, cost, and performance requirements that demand performance be designed into the system, from architecture to algorithms to data structures to coding guidelines.
Android software architecture, hardware requirements, licensing terms, and security considerations with a few case studies to illustrate the pros and cons of building embedded systems around the AndroidOS.
For embedded software developers, the most significant improvements to the C programming language made in the ISO C99 standard update are in the new <stdint.h> header file. Learn the typedef names for the new fixed width integer data types, to make hardware interfacing in C easier.
Motorola's Background Debug Mode is one of a variety of on-chip debug technologies. Collectively, they offer some of the best features of debug monitors and in-circuit emulators—with far less headache and cost.
Sun's K Virtual Machine gives embedded developers a virtual kick in the pants. KVM makes it possible to, for the first time, run Java programs on any 16-bit processor with 128KB of available memory.
Language specifications, including those for C and C++, are often loosely written. A static analysis tool called lint can help you find dangerous and non-portable constructs in your code before your compiler turns them into run-time bugs.
Memory leaks can be particularly risky for long-running embedded systems. Here are some tools to identify, track, and analyze memory leaks in embedded C and C++ programs.
Some human languages are read and written from left to right; others from right to left. A similar issue arises in the field of computers, involving the representation of numbers.
One of the least used but potentially most useful features of the C preprocessor is the ANSI-specified #error directive. Here's a look at a couple of clever uses for #error that have proven invaluable in embedded software development.
Let's face it, there's nothing sexy about the topic of cross compilers. Embedded programmers couldn't get the job done without one, but spend very little time thinking about how they work or how they could make our work easier.
Java compilers (also known as ahead-of-time or AOT compilers) may be the breakthrough needed to propagate widespread use of Java throughout the embedded industry.
Quite a few embedded programmers are considering adopting the Java programming language. But it's not as easy to run Java programs in an embedded environment as you might think.
