From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on inbox.vuxu.org X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.0 required=5.0 tests=MAILING_LIST_MULTI, RCVD_IN_DNSWL_NONE autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 Received: (qmail 30515 invoked from network); 22 May 2020 11:10:02 -0000 Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (45.79.103.53) by inbox.vuxu.org with ESMTPUTF8; 22 May 2020 11:10:02 -0000 Received: by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix, from userid 112) id B5FB49C924; Fri, 22 May 2020 21:09:56 +1000 (AEST) Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id E13619C838; Fri, 22 May 2020 21:09:29 +1000 (AEST) Received: by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix, from userid 112) id C96A19C5E8; Fri, 22 May 2020 21:09:25 +1000 (AEST) Received: from freefriends.org (freefriends.org [96.88.95.60]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 049F99C5E5 for ; Fri, 22 May 2020 21:09:24 +1000 (AEST) X-Envelope-From: arnold@skeeve.com Received: from freefriends.org (freefriends.org [96.88.95.60]) by freefriends.org (8.14.7/8.14.7) with ESMTP id 04MB94eM016091 (version=TLSv1/SSLv3 cipher=ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384 bits=256 verify=NOT); Fri, 22 May 2020 05:09:05 -0600 Received: (from arnold@localhost) by freefriends.org (8.14.7/8.14.7/Submit) id 04MB92D3016090; Fri, 22 May 2020 05:09:02 -0600 From: arnold@skeeve.com Message-Id: <202005221109.04MB92D3016090@freefriends.org> X-Authentication-Warning: frenzy.freefriends.org: arnold set sender to arnold@skeeve.com using -f Date: Fri, 22 May 2020 05:09:02 -0600 To: tih@hamartun.priv.no, coppero1237@gmail.com References: <20200521182817.08C0318C093@mercury.lcs.mit.edu> In-Reply-To: User-Agent: Heirloom mailx 12.5 7/5/10 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Subject: Re: [TUHS] History of popularity of C X-BeenThere: tuhs@minnie.tuhs.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.26 Precedence: list List-Id: The Unix Heritage Society mailing list List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Cc: tuhs@tuhs.org, jnc@mercury.lcs.mit.edu Errors-To: tuhs-bounces@minnie.tuhs.org Sender: "TUHS" Tyler Adams wrote: > So, now Im curious about embedded systems. In my limited experience, every > "embedded system" I programmed for from 2002-2011 had C as its primary > language. After 2011, I stopped programming embedded systems, so I don't > know after that. Why was C so dominant in this space? First of all, because C is the (almost) perfect language for embedded systems - tight code generated, language close to the metal, etc. etc. > Is it because adding > a backend to gcc was free, C was already well known, and C was sufficiently > performant? Cygnus Solutions (Hi John!) had a lot to do with this. They specialized in porting GCC to different processors used in embedded systems and provided support. Arnold