# Firmware for Hardware Engineers with Phillip Johnston

- Show: [The Amp Hour](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour)
- Published: 2021-09-07
- Length: 1h 19m
- Episode: 556
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2021-09-07-firmware-for-hardware-engineers-with-phillip-johnston
- Listen: https://theamphour.com/556-firmware-for-hardware-engineers-with-phillip-johnston/

## Summary

Phillip Johnston of Embedded Artistry explains how hardware engineers can improve firmware quality by adopting software engineering practices like separation of concerns, information hiding, and loose coupling. He details the implementation of Continuous Integration (CI) pipelines using tools like Jenkins and GitHub Actions to automate testing, static analysis, and hardware-in-the-loop checks. Johnston also discusses the strategic shift from bare-metal development to ecosystems like Zephyr RTOS and the importance of designing for change to mitigate supply chain risks.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2021-09-07-firmware-for-hardware-engineers-with-phillip-johnston#t=0) Introduction and Phillip Johnston's Background
- [3:48](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2021-09-07-firmware-for-hardware-engineers-with-phillip-johnston#t=228) Hardware to Firmware Transition and Core Principles
- [10:45](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2021-09-07-firmware-for-hardware-engineers-with-phillip-johnston#t=645) Testing Without Hardware and CI Pipelines
- [19:14](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2021-09-07-firmware-for-hardware-engineers-with-phillip-johnston#t=1154) Building Reusable Systems and Abstraction Layers
- [30:43](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2021-09-07-firmware-for-hardware-engineers-with-phillip-johnston#t=1843) CI Implementation and Guardrails
- [1:02:50](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2021-09-07-firmware-for-hardware-engineers-with-phillip-johnston#t=3770) RTOS, Zephyr, and Industry Trends
- [1:15:48](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2021-09-07-firmware-for-hardware-engineers-with-phillip-johnston#t=4548) Embedded Artistry Courses and Conclusion

## Topics

- [Embedded firmware](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/embedded-firmware)
- [Debugging & failure analysis](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/debugging-and-failure-analysis)
- [Microcontrollers & dev platforms](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/microcontrollers-and-platforms)
- [AI & machine learning](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/ai-and-machine-learning)

## Most relevant to

companies scaling up

## Mentioned

- Embedded Artistry (company)
- Jenkins (tool)
- GitHub Actions (tool)
- Zephyr (other)
- Nordic (company)
- Espressif (company)
- NXP (company)
- Medtronic (company)
- Apple (company)
- Aardvark (tool)
- Cppcheck (tool)
- Clang-Tidy (tool)
- CMake (tool)
- Make (tool)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [290: Rule of Thumbs (Repeat)](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2022-01-07-290-rule-of-thumbs-repeat) (Embedded.fm)
- [Interview with Phillip Johnston Part 1](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-pragmatic-embedded-podcast/2022-11-15-interview-with-phillip-johnston-part-1) (The Pragmatic Embedded Podcast)
- [Agile at Growing Hardware Startups with Matt Cole](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-pragmatic-embedded-podcast/2022-04-19-agile-at-growing-hardware-startups-with-matt-cole) (The Pragmatic Embedded Podcast)
- [Version Control Techniques](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-pragmatic-embedded-podcast/2023-02-03-version-control-techniques) (The Pragmatic Embedded Podcast)
- [53: Being a Grownup Engineer](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2014-05-28-53-being-a-grownup-engineer) (Embedded.fm)

## Citing this page

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