Baremetal Embedded C++

What is embedded C++?

Embedded C++ is a dialect of C++ that engineers developed in the late 1990s for embedded systems. Embedded engineers seldom use the language anymore. They do use C++ in embedded systems a lot.

What is the difference between embedded C++ and C++?

Embedded engineers developed “embedded C++” for embedded systems with as low as 4kB of RAM memory and a microcontroller processor. The language tried to keep valuable C++ concepts while removing features that increased memory requirements and reduced the processor’s efficiency.

Advantages of C++ for embedded systems

• Ease of use: C++ uses object-oriented programming and has a range of templates and tools that make it reliable and easier to build reusable parts of code.
  C++ in embedded systems provides for scalability and  code reusability. Its templates, for example, allow engineers “to create multiple objects based on very similar types of behavior. They give you a great way to reuse and scale your software.”
  C++ also uses the concept of inheritance.Inheritance allows engineers to create a baseline object in the language that will always have some minimum set of features. Then you inherit from that base class and build your customization’s. So C++ gives you a way to a very flexibly design and build software systems.”
• Portability: Since parts of C++ code are easily reusable, the code is also portable from one device to another.
• Standard library: The C++ standard library provides engineers with tools to create optimal code easily.
  An important advantage is engineers can leverage what other engineers have already produced in a standard library of basic C++ features. Instead of writing all that from scratch, you just inherit from those libraries, and then you customize and build your pieces onto it.
• Stability: Programs written in C++ in an embedded system can operate for decades without fail because of the language’s stability.
• Gateway language: Once your engineering team learns C++ well, it will be easier for them to learn and understand languages like Python, Java, JavaScript, and others.
• Support: C++ is used widely, with a large support community, and updated often. C++ has lots of support. It’s updated and improved every few years.
• Good for GUIs: C++ offers especially good tools for embedded systems with graphical user interfaces (GUIs).
  C++ also offers tools and techniques that make it an excellent option when embedded systems need a GUI.
  It will be much easier to implement graphical user interfaces using the object-oriented programming of C++.
  C++ is continuously evolving. It’s more forward-looking, and there are more and more nice features, which are highly optimized by compilers. So, they are fast and memory efficient.
  In addition, there’s the active standardization work that’s being conducted. A new C++ specification is out every third year, C++20 being the latest one. More and more modern programming concepts are added to the language.