Summary

The C++ language has powerful object-oriented and template features that can improve software design and portability while simultaneously reducing code complexity and the risk of error. Furthermore, C++ compiles highly efficient native code. This unique and effective combination makes C++ well-suited for programming microcontroller systems that require compact size, high performance and safety-critical reliability.

With this book, Chris Kormanyos delivers a highly practical guide to programming real-time embedded microcontroller systems in C++. It is divided into three parts plus several appendices. Part I provides a foundation for real-time C++ by covering language technologies, including object-oriented methods, template programming and optimization. Next, part II presents detailed descriptions of a variety of C++ components that are widely used in microcontroller programming. It details some of C++'s most powerful language elements, such as class types, templates and the STL, to develop components for microcontroller register access, low-level drivers, custom memory management, embedded containers, multitasking, etc.  Finally, part III describes mathematical methods and generic utilities that can be employed to solve recurring problems in real-time C++. The appendices include a brief C++ language tutorial, information on the real-time C++ development environment and instructions for building GNU GCC cross-compilers and a microcontroller circuit.

The most recent specification of C++11 in ISO/IEC 14882:2011 is used throughout the text. To facilitate portability, no libraries other than those specified in the language standard itself are used. Efficiency is always in focus and numerous examples are backed up with real-time performance measurements and size analyses that quantify the true costs of the code down to the very last byte and microsecond.

The target audience of this book mainly consists of students and professionals interested in real-time C++. Readers should be familiar with C or another programming language and will benefit most if they have had some previous experience with microcontroller electronics and the performance and size issues prevalent in embedded systems programming.

Choice Review

C++ is an efficient object-oriented programming language that is commonly used to implement embedded software found in many electronic devices such as wireless phones, microwave ovens, and watches. In this book, Kormanyos, a microcontroller programmer with significant industrial experience, delivers a practical real-time embedded system programming guide in C++. The book teaches by example, providing plenty of motivation. It is assumed that readers are already familiar with structured programming, while object-oriented aspects of C++ are explained in good detail. The book also assumes that readers have knowledge of embedded systems, so novices in this area may first need to study other introductory texts in microcontroller electronics. The book can serve as a reference due to the plethora of applied test cases. The author focuses on creating efficient code, both time- and space-wise, with technique exposure specific to embedded systems. Overall, this book is a good practical guide, beneficial to both students and professionals interested in real-time C++ programming. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. D. Papamichail The College of New Jersey