435: Sad Lack of Gnomes

Embedded.fm · 25 Nov 2022 · 56m · Episode 435

What this episode covers

Hosts Elecia White and Chris White discuss recent shifts in the embedded development ecosystem, specifically the shutdown of the Mbed compiler ecosystem and its replacement by Keil Studio Cloud, which they find significantly more complex. They also explore new developer tools like GitHub Codespaces for cloud-based coding and Linode for hosting self-managed Mastodon servers. The conversation covers technical nuances of C language quirks, such as compound literals and flexible array members, and the mechanics of hardware versus software breakpoints in debugging.

Mentioned

Companies
Linode, Memfault
Tools
GitHub Codespaces, Mbed, Keil Studio Cloud
Also
Mastodon

Other shows on the same ground, closest first.

  • Moore's Lobby · 49m

    Creating Next-Gen Microcontroller Developer Tools and Equipping the People Who Use Them

    Rodger Richey, Vice President of Development Tools and Academic Programs at Microchip Technology, discusses the evolution of embedded development tools over his 30-year tenure. He explains how Microchip shifted its IDE support from NetBeans to VS Code to align with developer habits and details the integration of AI as an assistant for code generation and debugging rather than a replacement. Richey also highlights Microchip's academic initiatives, including virtual internships and hardware labs in India, designed to bridge the gap between theoretical education and practical engineering skills.

  • The Amp Hour · 1h 07m

    The Magic of Calipers

    Dave Jones and Chris Gammell discuss Dave's recent struggles uploading code to GitHub and GitLab, leading to a broader conversation about version control tools like Tortoise SVN and the Zephyr RTOS. They explore the technical merits of E-ink displays for low-power IoT devices and the mechanics of digital calipers, before analyzing the new chip startup Atomic Semi founded by Sam Zeloof and Jim Keller. The episode concludes with a demonstration of AI's capabilities in generating code for hardware projects and a review of new features in KiCad 7.

  • The Amp Hour · 55m

    The Focus Knob Works

    Dave Jones and Chris Gamble celebrate 16 years of The Amp Hour by launching a new static website built with Hugo, Claude, and Cloudflare Pages, featuring searchable transcripts and an animated SVG scope. They discuss the importance of startup naming for SEO, citing examples like 'X Trainer' and 'Drop Bear', and review new hardware including the RIGOL DNA 800 VNA and spectrum analyzer. The conversation also covers the free release of Microchip's PIC32 compiler, the debugging capabilities of the $10 RISC-V CH32V003, and the growing influence of AI tooling on hardware development.

  • The Pragmatic Embedded Podcast · 49m

    Buzzword Bingo (or: which modern technologies make sense for embedded?)

    Hosts Jeff Gable and Luca Ingianni evaluate modern development buzzwords for embedded systems, discussing the applicability of web technologies like Kubernetes and Docker, the nuances of CI/CD pipelines, and the practical adoption of Rust and modern C++. They highlight specific tools such as Memfault, Mender, and Renode for observability and simulation, and analyze the role of AI in both device-side machine learning and developer productivity.

  • The Amp Hour · 1h 17m

    Gotta Update My Dog

    Chris Gammell and Dave Jones discuss recent industry layoffs at MakerBot, Microchip, and Intel, highlighting the risks of hardware career stability. They critique the fragility of cloud-dependent IoT products, citing Nest's discontinuation of the Revolve, and advocate for local processing and tools like Pi Shift. The conversation also covers Dave's prototype struggles with firmware constraints and Chris's exploration of machine learning via Wekinator.

The summary, chapters and topics are generated from the episode’s audio by this directory, not written by Embedded.fm. The episode itself belongs to its publisher.