Advanced C Programming

Course category
C Training Courses
Training area
Programming Languages
Course code
AC-401
Duration
4 days
Additional information
Available for on-site delivery only. Can be delivered remotely or Face-to-Face.

Many engineers work with the C programming language every day for real-time embedded development. However, some hit a plateau and never feel comfortable with certain aspects of the language.

This course aims to take individuals to the next level and give them a fuller appreciation of the more advanced aspects of the language. Due to the requirements for programming real-time embedded systems, this course goes beyond just addressing the language issues and explores compile, link and run-time issues.

In addition, it covers hardware access, interrupts and multi-tasking areas specific to the C programming language.

50% of the course is spent writing code for a real target. 


Course objectives:

  • To become comfortable with the advanced aspects of the C programming language.
  • To gain an in-depth knowledge on what is happening at compile, link and runtime on a target processor.
  • To introduce good quality and style for real-time embedded programming.
  • To gain hands-on experience of programming up interrupts and real-time operating systems (RTOS).

Delegates will learn:

  • Advanced aspects of the C programming language (C99)
  • The traps and pitfalls of the language (e.g. structure packing, dynamic memory, etc.)
  • Compile, link, and run-time memory models
  • MISRA-C (www.misra.org.uk) guidelines
  • What parts of C should and should not be used in real-time embedded systems programming

Pre-requisites:

  • A good grasp of the fundamentals of C

or

Who should attend: 

This course is designed for engineers who want to improve their grounding and understanding of the C programming language. It is specifically aimed at issues relevant to real-time embedded software engineers.

 Duration:

  • Four days

Course materials:

  • Delegate handbook

Course workshop: 

The course workshop uses the GCC-ARM compiler, Eclipse IDE and the STM32F407VG ARM Cortex-M4 microcontroller as a target for the hands-on sessions. Exercises are designed to stretch attendees’ abilities and explore subtleties of the language.

A good working knowledge of the C programming language is essential as some of the exercises involve extensive programming. 

Day 1

Program objects

  • Declarations and definitions
  • Expressions
  • Scope and lifetime

The build process

  • compilation, linking, memory sections, libraries

System startup & runtime

  • What happens before main
  • What is happening at runtime

Pointers

Function calling

  • Parameter passing mechanism
  • Pass-by-value vs Pass-by-reference
  • Returning data objects

Day 2

Hardware manipulation

  • Register access
  • The volatile keyword

Arrays

  • Initialisation
  • Relationship to pointers

State machine basics

  • Mealy & Moore machines

Function Pointers

  • Callbacks
  • State machine

Day 3

Dynamic Memory

  • Malloc, calloc and realloc
  • Variable sized structures
  • Dangers

Structures, Unions and Bitfields

  • Definition & use
  • Memory layout

Numerical issues

  • MISRA essential types
  • Floating point issues
  • Fixed point types

Day 4

Interrupts

  • Hardware interrupt models
  • Software interrupts

Multi-Tasking (Multi-threading)

  • Terminology
  • Advantages and disadvantages
  • Mutual exclusion
  • Intertask communication & sychronisation