7 years, 5 months ago.

Hi Evert,

Thanks for your question i'd be glad to help :)

Great to have you onboard!

In fact the best way to learn embedded software design is to just go crazy and have a project in mind you like for your micro controller platform and continuing adding complexity to it.

You can start by taking examples of code from this website and using those in your project to understand how they work. At the same time as working on projects from simply blinking and LED to making an internet connected device! You should be reading up on C/C++ syntax to help you understand where all this comes from. There are thousands of websites to choose from on this so take your pick :).

As i say, get a micro controller mbed platform, they are very very cheap - If you need help to pick one let me know.

Then import a blinky example - https://docs.mbed.com/docs/mbed-os-handbook/en/5.1/getting_started/blinky_compiler/

We have multiple tools to compile code, starting with the online IDE is the best option :) .

https://developer.mbed.org/compiler/

If you need anymore advice, please let me know :)

Best Regards,

Andrea, team mbed

7 years, 5 months ago.

Evert,

Studying embedded development takes a real commitment. You kind of have to dig in and read anything and everything you can. Some of my favorite sources are:

Jack Ganssle. He's an embedded guru. His big push is trying to make embedded engineers more professional. He has a couple books, but also has tons of free information on his website. Check out his firmware standard document. Sign up for his newsletter too. http://www.ganssle.com/

Jacob Beningo. Younger than Jack, but knowledgeable in embedded. He puts on Free webinars sometimes, which I have attended. These events are 1hr long and absolutely packed with good information on specific tools and techniques, and he answers questions after. Sign up for his newsletter and you will get notified about events. http://beningo.com/

Amp Hour Podcast. Chris and Dave are mostly hardware people, but they do embedded programming too. Embedded is, of course, intimately tied to hardware anyway. Basically what you get here are conversations between working engineers. I view it as sort of a substitute for having other engineering colleagues I can talk to. They do a lot of interesting interviews. Podcasts of course are a fantastic way to multitask. http://www.theamphour.com/

Embedded.FM Podcast. Dedicated specifically to embedded programming. I have some criticisms, but overall I definitely pick things up from this podcast over time. They will sometimes actively avoid talking about really important topics like IDEs, compilers, debuggers, etc. When I was getting started with ARM, I found the giant ecosystem pretty overwhelming. I really could have used some help navigating all the options out there. Elicia has a book that is aimed at beginners that might be worth picking up as well. It's an easy read. http://embedded.fm/

Test Driven Development for Embedded C. James Grenning. If you get to a point where you are developing a real product, you will need to do unit testing. This book is a good introduction that takes into account the unique requirements of embedded systems. https://www.amazon.com/Driven-Development-Embedded-Pragmatic-Programmers-ebook/dp/B01LYFFEIJ/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1477342599&sr=1-1&keywords=test+driven+development+for+embedded

Graham