C++ as an embedded language

Around 1983 when C++ had just been conceived and got its name, popular personal computer systems for a general audience, as well as businesses, had specifications like ones listed in the following table:

System

CPU

Clock speed (MHz)

RAM (KB)

ROM (KB)

Storage (KB)

BBC Micro

6502 (B+ 6512A)

2

16-128

32-128

Max 1,280 (ADFS floppy)

Max 20 MB (hard drive)

MSX

Zilog Z80

3.58

8-128

32

720 (floppy)

Commodore 64

6510

~1

64

20

1,000 (tape)

170 (floppy)

Sinclair ZX81

Zilog Z80

3.58

1

8

15 (cartridge)

IBM PC

Intel 8080

4.77

16-256

8

360 (floppy)

 

Now compare these computer systems to a recent 8-bit microcontroller (MCU) such as the AVR ...

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