Templates are a powerful feature of the C++ language but their syntax can be complex. This causes some developers to not use them, while others are concerned that templates might cause bloat to the compiled code. I will explain how templates work and how you may use them in your code. Although the examples I…
Auto and Structured Binding
This article is just a short follow-up article for “Write Less Code using the ‘auto’ Keyword”. Structured binding is something handy, introduced in C++17. Therefore, only the latest compiler will support it. If you are mainly write embedded code, you may skip this article, because it will take some years until C++17 support is available…
Guide to Modular Firmware
This article is for embedded software developers with a solid working knowledge of C or C++, but who struggle with large and complex projects. If you learn to develop embedded code, e.g. using the Arduino IDE, you find plenty of small example programs. It is helpful to get things started quickly, but as soon as…
It’s Time to Use #pragma once
In my opinion, preprocessor macros and the outdated #include mechanism are one of the worst parts of the C++ language. It is not just these things are causing a lot of problems, even more, it is very time consuming to find them. This article will focus on #pragma once. In the past, I already wrote…
Write Less Code using the “auto” Keyword
The auto keyword was introduced with C++11. It reduces the amount of code you have to write, reduces repetitive code and the number of required changes. Sadly, many C++ developers are not aware of how useful this keyword is. Especially embedded code can gain a lot by its usage. In this article, I try to…
Units of Measurements for Safe C++ Variables
In your program code, you often deal with unitless values. You can add the units of measurements in the variable or function name, or by adding a comment, but there is still the risk you accidentally make wrong conversions. I will describe how to handle units of measurements for common time values using a custom…
Real Time Counter and Integer Overflow
After writing the article about event-based firmware, I realised there are some misunderstandings how real-time counter are working and should be used. Especially there is a misconception about an imagined problem if such counter overflows. In this article, I try to explain this topic in more detail, using example code for the Arduino IDE. What…
Class or Module for Singletons?
Should you use a class or a module with a namespace for a singleton interface in your firmware? I found there are many misunderstandings which lead beginners to make a wrong decision in this matter. With this article, I try to visualize these misunderstandings with simple example code for the Arduino platform. Before we start,…
Event-Based Firmware (Part 2/2)
In the first part of this series, we explored the general concept of event-based firmware. To read that article, follow this link. The concepts we discussed were directly tailored to one specific firmware. Now, let’s develop those concepts further to build an event system that can be integrated into many different applications. First, we’ll look…
Event-based Firmware (Part 1/2)
You start with small, simple firmware. But with each added feature, the complexity grows and grows. Soon, you need a good design in order to maintain the firmware and ensure the code remains clean and readable. In this article, I explain the event-based approach for writing firmware. I use the term “event-based” because it is…