Embedded systems and C

[Morris Dovey]

Why C is the preferred language for embedded systems? Just curious.

Resources? Your own experiences / opinions?

Short answer: C is the closest thing to a "portable assembly
language".

 

[Sanjay Kulkarni]

Why C is the preferred language for embedded systems? Just curious.

Resources? Your own experiences / opinions?

- Sanjay Kulkarni

 

[santosh]

Why C is the preferred language for embedded systems? Just curious.

Resources? Your own experiences / opinions?

Because of a combination of desirable qualities. It is small, simple,
fairly easy to write a compiler for, has very little runtime overhead,
maps very efficiently to most hardware architectures, and is extremely
portable if carefully used.

 

[Malcolm McLean]

Why C is the preferred language for embedded systems? Just curious.

Resources? Your own experiences / opinions?

When writing C a person who knows assembler can more or less match the C to
the assembly it will generate. Since embedded applications are often short
of resources, and since they often have special instructions which require
bits of assembly that inter-operate with the C, this is extremely useful.

Having said that, my language MiniBasic has found a niche on small embedded
chips, and it's a high-level, interpreted language. However it is also very
small and easy to learn.

 

[Piotr]

Sanjay Kulkarni pisze:

Why C is the preferred language for embedded systems? Just curious.

C language has compliers for almost every platfroms, so it is very
portable. It also makes possible to low-level programming throught
assembly insertions.

Regards!

 

[Flash Gordon]

Piotr wrote, On 16/03/08 10:49:

Sanjay Kulkarni pisze:

C language has compliers for almost every platfroms, so it is very
portable.

Which leads to demand which leads to processor manufacturers ensuring
that a C compiler is produced for each new processor which leads to
portability which...

C got lucky and achieved a virtuous cycle of reinforcement.

It also makes possible to low-level programming throught
assembly insertions.

No, that is extensions to C which are not always implemented in the same
way. C itself provides no mechanisms for inserting or interfacing to
assembly.

 

[Piotr]

Flash Gordon pisze:

No, that is extensions to C which are not always implemented in the same
way.

Yes, you're right, but I have never worked with any compiler which
doesn't make possible to asm insertions. Of course, it doesn't implement
in the same way, but similarly.