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  • Author Author: neuromodulator
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Favorite microcontroller language?

I like C++ a lot, specifically I love OOP and the STL. If I had to write everything in plain C I would end up writing a lot of boilerplate code ('\0' supporting strings structures and functions; and container-alike structures and functions), time I would rather like to spend on the system functionality. Still, C++ is not well supported on microcontroller, as plain C has been the defacto for a long time.

 

What is your favourite language when programming microcontrollers and why?

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  • Hi!

    I think for most people the beginner language might still be C with just a bit of C++ (i.e. just classes), since this is what the Arduino IDE and many example programs for Arduino use far as I can tell (I don't use Arduino much). Lots of people start with Arduino it seems.

    Similarly, mbed provides this too. The newer programmers (learning with say micro:bit) have the option of Python, scratch etc., since that is supported in the online development environment for micro:bit and some other boards too.

    For me, I like C with a bit of C++ for microcontrollers too. But it could change, since there is now massive amounts of resources on a microcontroller in comparison to a decade ago.

    But when writing an application for an SBC (e.g. Pi, BBB) running Linux, then I think the time has gone to write everything in C or C++ these days, because other languages make you more productive. Speed could be a concern of course, and then there are some choices to be made, e.g. drop down to a lower-level language like C++, or choose a different processor/SBC or do some offload, all depending on the task-at-hand. Sometimes I'll write bits in C++, and write the rest in some other language (JavaScript for me usually, but I'm experimenting more and more with Python - still not my favourite language, but if it works and gets me results then I'm willing to spend time learning it). From my perspective that is the best of both worlds, speed&familiarity with C or C++, and speed of development for the non-time-sensitive parts of the application with JavaScript or Python.

    A similar thing is possible with microcontrollers; script using (say) LUA, write the rest in C perhaps. I've not used LUA so far though, but I intend to sometime.

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  • Hi!

    I think for most people the beginner language might still be C with just a bit of C++ (i.e. just classes), since this is what the Arduino IDE and many example programs for Arduino use far as I can tell (I don't use Arduino much). Lots of people start with Arduino it seems.

    Similarly, mbed provides this too. The newer programmers (learning with say micro:bit) have the option of Python, scratch etc., since that is supported in the online development environment for micro:bit and some other boards too.

    For me, I like C with a bit of C++ for microcontrollers too. But it could change, since there is now massive amounts of resources on a microcontroller in comparison to a decade ago.

    But when writing an application for an SBC (e.g. Pi, BBB) running Linux, then I think the time has gone to write everything in C or C++ these days, because other languages make you more productive. Speed could be a concern of course, and then there are some choices to be made, e.g. drop down to a lower-level language like C++, or choose a different processor/SBC or do some offload, all depending on the task-at-hand. Sometimes I'll write bits in C++, and write the rest in some other language (JavaScript for me usually, but I'm experimenting more and more with Python - still not my favourite language, but if it works and gets me results then I'm willing to spend time learning it). From my perspective that is the best of both worlds, speed&familiarity with C or C++, and speed of development for the non-time-sensitive parts of the application with JavaScript or Python.

    A similar thing is possible with microcontrollers; script using (say) LUA, write the rest in C perhaps. I've not used LUA so far though, but I intend to sometime.

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