Review: Modern Software Engineering
This is actually a review of 3 books by Dave Farley, because they really form a set: Modern Software Engineering: Doing What Works to Build Better Software Faster (just released for 2022, 224 pages) Continuous Delivery: Reliable...
VolksEEG: Rust Development On Adafruit nRF52840 Feather Express
Contents: Introduction Setup Hardware Workstation Software Checks USB Device Minicom JLinkExe FTHR840BOOT Contents OpenOCD VolksEEG/eeg-device-firmware PR "Merging initial implementation of the PC communications...
Working With ESP-C3-32S-Kit Dev Board
Introduction The ESP-C3-32S-Kit is a small dev board made by Ai.Thinker, containing an ESP-C3-32S SoC module, supporting WiFi and BLE: Development for the board uses the Espressif IoT Development Framework...
Learning Rust For Embedded Systems
The Motivational PortionBased on recommendations from Kevin Nause, the VolksEEG project is considering using Rust as the embedded system programming language. So I've been off on a tear skimming books and e-books and watching videos at 2x to...
The 2021 IoT Online Conference
The IoT Online Conference is back, and this time the core focus is on IoT embedded systems and edge computing. This post will explore what will be happening at this year’s conference and how teams and developers can benefit. The...
Six Software Design Tools
Introduction Here are six tools to help you with software design. The first two are very simple, almost deceptively trivial, while the last four are more involved. They apply universally, to all types of software, all types of systems, and...
Review: Prototype to Product
Prototype to Product: A Practical Guide for Getting to Market, by Alan Cohen, is a must-read for anyone involved in product development, whether in a technical, management, or executive role. I was reminded of it by Cohen's recent...
Definite Article: Notes on Traceability
Electronic component distibutor Digi-Key recently announced part tracing for surface-mount components purchased in cut-tape form. This is a big deal, and it’s a feature that is a good example of traceability. Some thing or process that has...
Learning From Engineering Failures
IntroductionI'm an informal student of engineering failures. They guide a lot of my attitude and approach towards engineering.This is rooted in two of my favorite quotes:George Santayana: Those who do not remember the past are condemned...
Acceptance Tests vs. TDD
The Question Our software book club at work is reading Michael Feathers' Working Effectively with Legacy Code. This is an outstanding book that's worth re-reading every few years. This week, we went over Chapter 8, "How Do...
Assembly language is best - except when it isn’t
A look at why writing in C often produces more efficient code than hand-written assembly language.
C to C++: 5 Tips for Refactoring C Code into C++
The article titled "Simple Tips to Refactor C Code into C++: Improve Embedded Development" provides essential guidance for embedded developers transitioning from C to C++. The series covers fundamental details necessary for a seamless transition and emphasizes utilizing C++ as a better C rather than diving into complex language features. The article introduces five practical tips for refactoring C code into C++. Replace #define with constexpr and const: Discouraging the use of #define macros, the article advocates for safer alternatives like constexpr and const to improve type safety, debugging, namespaces, and compile-time computation. Use Namespaces: Demonstrating the benefits of organizing code into separate logical groupings through namespaces, the article explains how namespaces help avoid naming conflicts and improve code readability. Replace C-style Pointers with Smart Pointers and References: Emphasizing the significance of avoiding raw pointers, the article suggests replacing them with C++ smart pointers (unique_ptr, shared_ptr, weak_ptr) and using references
Getting Started With Zephyr: Devicetrees
This blog post provides an introduction to the "Devicetree", another unique concept in The Zephyr Project. We learn about the basic syntax of a device tree and how its structure and hierarchy mirror hardware, from the SoC to the final board. We also see how hardware described in a devicetree can be referenced and controlled in the source code of a Zephyr-based application.
NULL pointer protection with ARM Cortex-M MPU
This post explains how you can set up the ARM Cortex-M MPU (Memory Protection Unit) to protect thy code from dragons, demons, core dumps, and numberless other foul creatures awaiting thee after thou dereference the NULL pointer.
Bellegram, a wireless DIY doorbell that sends you a Telegram message
A wireless button that uses the M5 STAMP PICO and Mongoose to send a Telegram message when pressed. The code is written in C
Bit-Banged Async Serial Output And Disciplined Engineering
This post covers implementing asynchronous serial output directly on a GPIO with bit-banging. This can be a valuable debug tool for getting information out of a system. It also covers disciplined engineering, using the bit-banging module as an example and template you can apply to other projects.
