Embedded Systems Design - Europe - August/September 2007 - (Page 16)

market study Which factors most influenced your decision to use a commercia operating system? Real-time capability 38% Technical support 27% Good software tools 37% Processor or hardware compatability 50% 43% 49% 61% 59% 43% 43% 58% 36% 41% 45% 40% 31% 30% 35% 37% 30% 34% 14% 28% 30% 31% 29% 28% 32% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70 you need that driver availability, or some special advanced features, you really aren’t willing to pay for it.” Is that drop due to the fact that users are unhappy with the support they are given (Figure 6)? A key inﬂuencer in the decision of which commercial operating system to employ is the quality and availability of tech support. The ﬁgure almost doubled in two years, from 27 percent to 50 percent. LANGUAGES AND TOOLS The use of C as a programming language is increasing signiﬁcantly in both current and future projects (Figures 7 and 8), mostly at the expense of C++. Why is C, which is a relatively mature language, increasing in popularity? One reason, according to Gatliff, is that more designs are being outsourced. “The skill set required for C++ is stronger than what’s needed for C. Especially when you consider that the use of Java only increased slightly between current and next project. I would have expected (and hoped) for the Java use to increase. That said, I wouldn’t say that an increase of around 8 percent means that people are abandoning the use of C++.” Barr wasn’t surprised by these results at all and says this is part of a continuing trend. “If you look at the year-on-year numbers, C++ doesn’t add a lot of value. It actually takes away. Even though C++ can potentially be more ‘reusable,’ that doesn’t necessarily hold true in the embedded space. So much of the embedded software ties to the precise hardware that’s being implemented. You can reuse your APIs, but the guts of your code 16 Overall cost 52% Documantation Networking capability Supplier's reputation Royalty-free Code size/ memory usage 46% Figure 6 2007 (N = 325) 2006 (N = 447) 2005 (N = 441) Base = Those who currently use a "commercial” or"commercial distribution" operating system My current embedded project is programmed mostly in: C C++ 7% 8% 8% 1% 3% 3% 1% 1% 2% 2% 3% 3% 22% 51% 51% 30% 26% 63% Assembly language Java BASIC UML, MatLab, or like 0% XML 0% 1% LabView 1% 2% 0% 4% 5% Other 6% 0% Figure 7 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 2007 (N = 1,011) 2006 (N = 1,043) 2005 (N = 1,612) AUGUST – SEPTEMBER 2007 | embedded systems design europe | www.embedded.com/europe 012-013-014-016-017-018-019_ESDE16 16 6/09/07 13:26:20 http://www.embedded.com/europe

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Embedded Systems Design - Europe - August/September 2007

Contents News Cover Feature: Annual Study Uncovers the Embedded Market DSP Serves the Convergence Needs of Small Business Embedded Test Offers Unique Value for Serial I/O The Software Detective: First-Fault Data Capture Boards May Shrink But Performance Doesn't New Products Advertising Contacts

Embedded Systems Design - Europe - August/September 2007

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