Firmly in line
A common compiler optimization is the inclusion of a function’s code at the location(s) from where the function is called, instead of just having calls to the code located elsewhere: inlining. This...
View ArticleGet packing
I have frequently made the observation that a key difference between embedded and desktop system programming is variability: every Windows PC is essentially the same, whereas every embedded system is...
View ArticleInstrumentation
Embedded software development tools are important to all developers and a topic that I frequently discuss [like here]. The way such tools are described by vendors is interesting. For example, there...
View ArticleEfficient code – a quiz
I was recently reading a set of “golden rules” for embedded programming. I am very skeptical about such proscriptive instructions as, for them to be valid, a great many assumptions must be made and...
View ArticleEfficient code – quiz answers
Two weeks ago, I set a quiz. I listed four ways to write some code, which was supposed to divide an unsigned integer by 8. I commented that the priority was for the code to be as fast as possible and...
View ArticleRTOS memory footprint
Most of the time, I subscribe to the view that “the only stupid question is the one you did not ask”. However, I do have trouble with a question that I have been asked countless times at trade-shows,...
View ArticleA puzzle
I am always interested in some of the subtle effects that coding can have on not just the behavior of code, but also its performance. Recently, I stumbled across some benchmarking code – I cannot...
View ArticlePower and compilers at the NMI
I recently attended an event focused on power and embedded software hosted by the NMI in the UK, where I had been invited to make a presentation. My session was titled “Power Management in a Real Time...
View ArticleLess puzzled
Some weeks ago, I made a posting in which I presented some code and then considered how it might be optimized and asked for input from readers. I was confident that I would not have found every...
View ArticleNot so much of a puzzle
Yesterday evening we had dinner with friends. The guy works on real time control systems and was talking about the trouble he is having with some young, well qualified engineers, who think that they...
View ArticleFirmly in line
A common compiler optimization is the inclusion of a function’s code at the location(s) from where the function is called, instead of just having calls to the code located elsewhere: inlining. This...
View ArticleGet packing
I have frequently made the observation that a key difference between embedded and desktop system programming is variability: every Windows PC is essentially the same, whereas every embedded system is...
View ArticleInstrumentation
Embedded software development tools are important to all developers and a topic that I frequently discuss [like here]. The way such tools are described by vendors is interesting. For example, there...
View ArticleEfficient code – a quiz
I was recently reading a set of “golden rules” for embedded programming. I am very skeptical about such proscriptive instructions as, for them to be valid, a great many assumptions must be made and...
View ArticleEfficient code – quiz answers
Two weeks ago, I set a quiz. I listed four ways to write some code, which was supposed to divide an unsigned integer by 8. I commented that the priority was for the code to be as fast as possible and...
View ArticleRTOS memory footprint
Most of the time, I subscribe to the view that “the only stupid question is the one you did not ask”. However, I do have trouble with a question that I have been asked countless times at trade-shows,...
View ArticleA puzzle
I am always interested in some of the subtle effects that coding can have on not just the behavior of code, but also its performance. Recently, I stumbled across some benchmarking code – I cannot...
View ArticlePower and compilers at the NMI
I recently attended an event focused on power and embedded software hosted by the NMI in the UK, where I had been invited to make a presentation. My session was titled “Power Management in a Real Time...
View ArticleLess puzzled
Some weeks ago, I made a posting in which I presented some code and then considered how it might be optimized and asked for input from readers. I was confident that I would not have found every...
View ArticleNot so much of a puzzle
Yesterday evening we had dinner with friends. The guy works on real time control systems and was talking about the trouble he is having with some young, well qualified engineers, who think that they...
View Article
