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Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada
Date: Tue, 15 Nov 2016 11:34:05 -0800 (PST)
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Subject: Re: Getting started with bare-board development
From: Robert Eachus <rieachus@comcast.net>
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Xref: news.eternal-september.org comp.lang.ada:32329
Date: 2016-11-15T11:34:05-08:00
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On Friday, November 11, 2016 at 5:19:35 PM UTC-5, Adam Jensen wrote:
> Hi, I've recently began to have a serious look at Ada-2012 and
> Spark-2014, and using GNAT for the development of real-time software in
> embedded systems. What is a good way to get started?
...=20
> Also, do ARM processors make sense for safety critical systems? If not,
> would it make more sense to target a different platform from the beginnin=
g?

Just a couple of reminders that you may want to put on your screen saver, o=
r a plaque above your desk:

Make it run, then make it right, then make it fast [Kent Beck]

Premature optimization is the root of all evil [Donald Knuth]

Moving from hardware to software, or mixing them together, it is sometimes =
hard to remember this key to software development. With Ada you are best of=
f pulling any interface or (software) algorithm into a package.  Sometimes =
a package you create this way will be implemented by interfacing to a libra=
ry package, from the Ada RM, the device manufacturer, or a code repository.=
  Let the compiler do the hard work of eliminating unused code, call throug=
hs, and inlining a short procedures and functions. You will be amazed at th=
e small ratio between lines of source code (SLOC) and the size in bytes of =
the resulting hardware module.  (Don't forget to strip out the debugging su=
pport, enumeration literals, etc., before measuring. ;-)