Embedded vs. PC Application Programming

Overview  The software design cycle  Designing differences  Code differences  Test differences

In general...  They are the same  All programs have:  Inputs  Processing/Decisions  Outputs  Always use the Software Design Cycle

Software Design Cycle  Specification  Design  Code  Test

Specification  Understand the Requirements  The same words mean different things to different people  As a group, what does the following mean: The program must respond quickly to input.  Write down the Requirements  Once you know what you plan to do (with numbers) write it down!

Design  Decide the ‘best approach’ to meet your requirements  Hardware  Programming Language  Customer Education(Change the Requirements)

Coding Embedded  Closer to the Hardware  Use native data types  Fewer System Resources  No Operating System  More efficient algorithms  Higher frequency = higher power PC Application  Abstracted Hardware  Plenty of Resources  Has an Operating System

Testing Embedded  Testing must be planned in  Usually a simple interface  Often involves extra hardware PC Application  Usually simple to get a basic debug output  Can be very sophisticate testing

Other big differences  Take a few minutes and talk in small groups. I’ll be asking one group to give some of the ideas they came up with.

Things to Remember  There are parallels between embedded and PC programming  When coding embedded, it is better to use native data types