Programming Embedded Systems, 2nd Edition

Preface

First figure out why you want the students to learn the subject and what you want them to know, and the method will result more or less by common sense.

Richard Feynman

Embedded software is in almost every electronic device in use today. There is software hidden away inside our watches, DVD players, mobile phones, antilock brakes, and even a few toasters. The military uses embedded software to guide missiles, detect enemy aircraft, and pilot UAVs. Communication satellites, deep-space probes, and many medical instruments would’ve been nearly impossible to create without it.

Someone has to write all that software, and there are tens of thousands of electrical engineers, computer scientists, and other professionals who actually do. We are two of them, and we know from our personal experiences just how hard it can be to learn the craft.

Each embedded system is unique, and the hardware is highly specialized to the application domain. As a result, embedded systems programming can be a widely varying experience and can take years to master. However, one common denominator across almost all embedded software development is the use of the C programming language. This book will teach you how to use C in any embedded system.

Even if you already know how to write embedded software, you can still learn a lot from this book. In addition to learning how to use C more effectively, you’ll also benefit from the detailed explanations and source code associated with common embedded software problems. Among the advanced topics covered in the book are memory testing and verification, device driver design and implementation, real-time operating system internals, and code optimization techniques.

Why We Wrote This Book

Each year, globally, approximately one new processor is manufactured per person. That’s more than six billion new processors each year, fewer than two percent of which are the Pentiums and PowerPCs at the heart of new personal computers. You may wonder whether there are really that many computers surrounding us. But we bet that within five minutes you can probably spot dozens of products in your own home that contain processors: televisions, stereos, MP3 players, coffee makers, alarm clocks, VCRs, DVD players, microwaves, dishwashers, remote controls, bread machines, digital watches, and so on. And those are just the personal possessions—many more such devices are used at work. The fact that every one of those products contains not only a processor, but also software, is the impetus for this book.

One of the hardest things about this subject is knowing when to stop writing. Each embedded system is unique, and we have therefore learned that there is an exception to every rule. Nevertheless, we have tried to boil the subject down to its essence and present the things that programmers definitely need to know about embedded systems.