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Preview: ... he software. In a Windows environment, a lot of code is used to make analogs of "hardware" such as buttons or windows. It is, after all, a graphic environment so there is also a lot of code dedicated to the display of information. There is also a very high level of interactivity.<br><br>In contrast, embedded applications are most commonly Finite State Machines (FSM's). FSM's primarily just go through a loop of code and execute the same instructions over and over. There can still be user interaction in the form of an external button being pushed, etc. but usually the idea of the microcontroller is to be a self-contained supervisor or control circuit. Therefore, the microcontroller may execute a loop that continuously monitors a voltage on a pin, a temperature, or any number of values presented to the analog to digital (A/D) or digital to analog (D/A) converters. The code can execute subroutines based on changing values of anything from the time of day to the temperature inside a computer case.<br><br>The code I have written has been pretty low-level, without much abstraction from the hardware. That is usually the case with microcontrollers, whether one is coding in assembly or BASIC. Some BASIC commands may combine several assembly instructions, but the programmer still spends a lot of time writing values to registers, swapping bits, switching memory banks, and bit-banging.<br><br>I have written code that had to "talk" to a host computer. In that instance, the main loop was just waiting for something to show up on the UART (RS232). Once something came through on the serial port, I had a mass of CASE statements for each command or query that was presented by the computer.<br><br>I look forward to doing some high-level application development in the near future! I can't wait to delve in to .net, Java, and C#.<br><br>Week 3 DQ 1<br><br>The article, "Building Trustworthy Software" (Hogan, 2007), discusses many software development issues. Pick one of these issues, explain its significance, and critically examine the article's discussion of it.<br><br>The article, "Building Trustworthy Software" (Hogan, 2007), discusses many software development issues. Pick one of these issues, explain its significance, and critically examine the article's discussion of it. Computer programmers reusing function blocks in software projects is a good idea because it cuts down on time spent on the project. However, computer programming is about creativity, a programmer should not get stuck in the decrepit position of solving problems by reusing someone else's code all the time. Conversely, let's face it, the world of corporate software development is not about the computer programmer's pride and honor about making their on code, its about meeting business deadlines and getting software projects completed, furthermore, fully operational to go on consumer shelves. The business of sof ...

The full tutorial is about 2310 words long plus attachments.

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DQ's.doc (44K)