Tips: Guidelines for using C++ as an alternative to C in embedded designs
Embedded software applications are most commonly written in C. For many years, C++ has been seen as the natural successor and has found greater acceptance, but the increase in its usage has been much slower than anticipated.
There are a number of reasons for this. Firstly, embedded developers are quite conservative and prefer to use solutions that are proven rather than novel " "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".
There is also the lesson of experience. Many developers have attempted to use C++ for embedded applications and failed. Such failures may sometimes be attributed to shortcomings in development tools, but most often it is the inappropriate use of the language " treating an embedded system like a desktop computer " that is to blame.
In this two part tutorial, an attempt is made to address some of these issues, to give guidelines to the effective use of C++ for embedded applications and to show that the language has some true benefits to the embedded developer.
One of the key reasons why C++ has gained popularity in the computing world in general is its history. Although it is a modern language, with object oriented capabilities, it has backward compatibility that makes its adoption " learning and application " straightforward. .
Courtesy:- http://www.embedded.com/
