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Programming Embedded Systems, 2nd Edition
book

Programming Embedded Systems, 2nd Edition

by Michael Barr, Anthony Massa
October 2006
Intermediate to advanced content levelIntermediate to advanced
336 pages
9h 13m
English
O'Reilly Media, Inc.
Content preview from Programming Embedded Systems, 2nd Edition

The C Language: The Lowest Common Denominator

One of the few constants across most embedded systems is the use of the C programming language. More than any other, C has become the language of embedded programmers. This has not always been the case, and it will not continue to be so forever. However, at this time, C is the closest thing there is to a standard in the embedded world. In this section, we’ll explain why C has become so popular and why we have chosen it as the primary language of this book.

Because successful software development so frequently depends on selecting the best language for a given project, it is surprising to find that one language has proven itself appropriate for both 8-bit and 64-bit processors; in systems with bytes, kilobytes, and megabytes of memory; and for development teams that range from one to a dozen or more people. Yet this is precisely the range of projects in which C has thrived.

The C programming language has plenty of advantages. It is small and fairly simple to learn, compilers are available for almost every processor in use today, and there is a very large body of experienced C programmers. In addition, C has the benefit of processor-independence, which allows programmers to concentrate on algorithms and applications rather than on the details of a particular processor architecture. However, many of these advantages apply equally to other high-level languages. So why has C succeeded where so many other languages have largely failed?

Perhaps ...

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Publisher Resources

ISBN: 0596009836Supplemental ContentErrata Page