# 137: Pausing to Think

- Show: [Embedded.fm](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm)
- Published: 2016-02-03
- Length: 1h 19m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2016-02-03-137-pausing-to-think
- Listen: https://makingembeddedsystems.libsyn.com/embedded-ep137mp3

## Summary

Dan Saks, founder of Saks & Associates and former secretary of the ANSI/ISO C++ standards committee, discusses the practical application of C++ in embedded systems. He argues that C++ offers superior type safety, automated initialization via constructors, and better interface control through classes compared to C. Saks advocates for an incremental migration strategy—recompiling C code as C++ and adopting features like references and overloading—while cautioning against the STL and dynamic memory on resource-constrained devices.

## Chapters

- [0:06](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2016-02-03-137-pausing-to-think#t=6) Introduction and Guest Background
- [3:45](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2016-02-03-137-pausing-to-think#t=225) Why C++ for Embedded Systems?
- [12:50](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2016-02-03-137-pausing-to-think#t=770) Cultural Barriers and Learning C++
- [17:23](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2016-02-03-137-pausing-to-think#t=1043) Type Safety and Strict Checking
- [33:05](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2016-02-03-137-pausing-to-think#t=1985) Incremental Migration Strategy
- [46:37](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2016-02-03-137-pausing-to-think#t=2797) Constructors, Destructors, and Initialization
- [53:16](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2016-02-03-137-pausing-to-think#t=3196) Debugging Mindset and Design Patterns
- [1:13:45](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2016-02-03-137-pausing-to-think#t=4425) Book Recommendations and Conclusion

## Topics

- [Embedded firmware](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/embedded-firmware)
- [Debugging & failure analysis](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/debugging-and-failure-analysis)
- [Careers & education](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/engineering-careers-and-education)
- [AI & machine learning](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/ai-and-machine-learning)

## Most relevant to

established companies

## Mentioned

- Saks & Associates (company)
- iRobot (company)
- Arduino (product)
- Embedded Systems Conference (other)
- Kernighan and Ritchie (other)
- Siddhartha Rao (other)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [Modern C++ for Embedded with Niall Cooling](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-pragmatic-embedded-podcast/2023-05-18-modern-c-for-embedded-with-niall-cooling) (The Pragmatic Embedded Podcast)
- [Exploring Rust for Embedded Systems with Philip Markgraf](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-pragmatic-embedded-podcast/2024-10-30-exploring-rust-for-embedded-systems-with-philip-markgraf) (The Pragmatic Embedded Podcast)
- [Christmas Special](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-pragmatic-embedded-podcast/2021-12-22-christmas-special) (The Pragmatic Embedded Podcast)
- [Settling Beef](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/oxide-and-friends/2023-10-17-settling-beef) (Oxide and Friends)
- [Rust with Milica Kostic](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-pragmatic-embedded-podcast/2026-01-19-rust-with-milica-kostic) (The Pragmatic Embedded Podcast)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2016-02-03-137-pausing-to-think. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to Embedded.fm.