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C Structure Padding Initialization
This article takes a look at a few different aspects of C structure initialization. In particular, we’ll look at when it matters, the current state of things in Clang and GCC, recommendations, and the ✨ future ✨.
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Embedded C/C++ Unit Testing with Mocks
In this article, we do a deep-dive into unit testing with mocks. We’ll go over where they fit into your unit testing infrastructure, how to write them in C/C++, and finally run through some real-world examples. At the end, we’ll briefly talk about integration tests.
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GNU Binutils: the ELF Swiss Army Knife
In this article, we will explore some of my favorite binary introspection tools, such as GNU Binutils. The material is geared toward the embedded software crowd that typically writes C and C++, but many of the ideas, tools, and lessons learned can be applied to a variety of low-level software. We will walk through practical examples of how the tools can be leveraged to aid in the development process irrespective of the compiler you are using (e.g. GCC, Clang, IAR, ARMCC, etc).
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A Guide to Watchdog Timers for Embedded Systems
In this article we will discuss the last line of defense in embedded systems – watchdogs. We will walk through a step-by-step example of how to implement a watchdog subsystem, incorporating a “hardware” and “software” watchdog, and examine effective strategies for root causing the underlying problems leading to these hangs.
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Improving Compilation Time of C/C++ Projects
Build times don’t have to be long, even yours! However, many factors play a role. In this post, we’ll dive into which factors contribute to slower builds, compare and contrast options, and also go over some easy wins which you can immediately contribute to your project and share with your teammates. The techniques discussed apply to most C/C++ compilers and projects, and there are a couple extra tips for those using the GNU GCC compiler.
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Managing Developer Environments with Conda
This post gives an introduction to what Conda is, explains why you should care about keeping your developer environments in sync, and finally provides a walk-through on getting started with Conda to set up a GCC based developer environment.
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Embedded C/C++ Unit Testing Basics
In this post, we go into detail on how to properly build abstractions to stub, fake, and mock out implementations of low level embedded software and provide a full real-world example of a unit test using the CppUTest 3.8 unit test framework.
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Building Better Firmware with Continuous Integration
In this post, we introduce Continuous Integration as a modern technique to allow larger teams to move fast without breaking things. We’ll explain what Continuous Integration is, why you may want to use it, and walk you through setting up CircleCI on a firmware project step by step.