|
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Firmware Update
- January 25, 2010
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In this issue:
-- Five Ways to Make Your C Code Run Faster
-- Opinion: The Era of Firmware Liability is Upon Us
-- Meet Me in Sunny Orlando this February
-- Fun Stuff for Engineers -- Embedded C Coding Standard - Now Just $29
Firmware Update is a free newsletter by embedded software expert Michael Barr. It is Copyright 2010 by Netrino, LLC, but may be reprinted for non-commercial purposes. Please forward it to colleagues who may benefit from the information. |
|
|
Five Ways to Make Your C Code Run Faster ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fellow
EmbeddedGurus blogger Nigel Jones is
obsessed with
writing efficient C code. He experiments
with alternative coding constructs, carefully
examining the compiler's output for each,
when normal people are sleeping. And
anytime he sees an unexpected coding
construct in another programmer's code, he
works to find out why. It's rumored he even
keeps compiler manuals in his bathroom!
In a recent 5-part series of posts, Nigel suggested speeding up firmware by choosing the best integer size, using the optimizer properly, avoiding post-increment and post- decrement, optimizing for speed, and declaring local functions static. |
|
|
Opinion: The Era of Firmware Liability is Upon Us ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Human health and wellbeing are both
enriched by and increasingly dependent upon
proper functioning of the firmware inside
electronic systems. And consumers are
beginning to notice the presence of software
in products--if only because of the need for
frequent reboots and
upgrades. There is no end in sight to either
trend, as several
billion more such devices are produced each
year.
Lawsuits are on the rise too. Claims range from copyright theft and patent and trade secret infringement to traditional product liability with a firmware twist. Unfortunately, the quality and reliability of our collective firmware leaves the door open for more cases caused by the latter. |
|
|
Meet Me in Sunny Orlando this February ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It's a safe bet that the weather in Orlando,
Florida will be better than it is where you live
this February! That's where I'll be leading the
first public Embedded Software Boot Camp
workshop of 2010. Why not join me at what
one past attendee called "an enjoyable,
challenging way of training an individual or a
team in a short amount of time"?
The 4-1/2 day hands-on Boot Camp will be held February 22-26 in a hotel meeting room near Orlando Int'l Airport (MCO). Training will start at 8:30am Monday through Friday and run until 5:30pm. A block of sleeping rooms is being held at the same hotel for $99/night, which is a bargain considering you won't need a car to get around and a buffet breakfast is included. Lunch will be provided by Netrino the first four days. We'll finish Friday by 12:30, so you can travel home--or have your family join you for a weekend at Disney World! |
|
If the week of February 22-26 won't work for
your schedule or Florida is too far to travel,
please note these additional Boot Camp dates
and
locations for Spring 2010:
I'll be the instructor for these too. |
|
|
Fun Stuff for Engineers ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This Code Stinks! The Worst Embedded
Code Ever http://bit.ly/22GMAr
Favorite "Programmer" Cartoons http://bit.ly/7AW2Qb What Happens When Engineers Own Dogs. http://youtube.com/watch?v=t9TPMIfY5GU Interactive LED Coffee Table Demp http://youtube.com/watch?v=IkmpIXd9Q90 Wii Remote Hacks http://youtube.com/watch?v=QgKCrGvShZs An Engineer's Guide to Dating. Because Being Yourself Won't Work. http://youtube.com/watch?v=6mUFXFe765I
|
|
|
Embedded C Coding Standard - Now Just $29 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At first, the Embedded C Coding Standard
was only available within Netrino. A little
over a year ago we started selling copies on
our website for $99. We didn't expect many
takers, but wanted to share the bug-killing
rules we had learned to follow. The response
was overwhelming. So we next worked to
make it available through Amazon.com, which last Fall
began selling many more copies per month
than we do directly.
After cutting our printing costs, we're now lowering the price to $29. We hope this will help the book reach an even larger audience. At present the cheapest way to buy the book is directly from us, as the price then includes free shipping (within the U.S.). |
|
|
Quick Links ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|
|
|
Contact Us... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email:
mbarr@netrino.com
phone:
866.78.EMBED
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|
