Embedded C++ (EC++) is a

dialect The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a ...

of the

C++ C++ (pronounced "C plus plus") is a high-level general-purpose programming language created by Danish computer scientist Bjarne Stroustrup as an extension of the C programming language, or "C with Classes". The language has expanded significan ...

programming language for

embedded system An embedded system is a computer system—a combination of a computer processor, computer memory, and input/output peripheral devices—that has a dedicated function within a larger mechanical or electronic system. It is ''embedded'' ...

s. It was defined by an industry group led by major Japanese

central processing unit A central processing unit (CPU), also called a central processor, main processor or just Processor (computing), processor, is the electronic circuitry that executes Instruction (computing), instructions comprising a computer program. The CPU per ...

(CPU) manufacturers, including

NEC is a Japanese multinational information technology and electronics corporation, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. The company was known as the Nippon Electric Company, Limited, before rebranding in 1983 as NEC. It provides IT and network soluti ...

, Hitachi, Fujitsu, and

Toshiba , commonly known as Toshiba and stylized as TOSHIBA, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Its diversified products and services include power, industrial and social infrastructure systems, ...

, to address the shortcomings of C++ for embedded applications. The goal of the effort is to preserve the most useful

object-oriented Object-oriented programming (OOP) is a programming paradigm based on the concept of " objects", which can contain data and code. The data is in the form of fields (often known as attributes or ''properties''), and the code is in the form of p ...

features of the C++ language yet minimize code size while maximizing execution efficiency and making

compiler In computing, a compiler is a computer program that translates computer code written in one programming language (the ''source'' language) into another language (the ''target'' language). The name "compiler" is primarily used for programs tha ...

construction simpler. The official website states the goal as "to provide embedded systems programmers with a subset of C++ that is easy for the average C programmer to understand and use".EC++ Questions and Answers
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Differences from C++

Embedded C++ excludes some features of C++. Some compilers, such as those from Green Hills and IAR Systems, allow certain features of ISO/ANSI C++ to be enabled in Embedded C++.

IAR Systems IAR Systems is a Swedish computer software company that offers development tools for embedded systems. IAR Systems was founded in 1983, and is listed on Nasdaq Nordic in Stockholm. IAR is an abbreviation of Ingenjörsfirma Anders Rundgren, which ...

calls this "Extended Embedded C++".

Compilation

An EC++ program can be compiled with any C++ compiler. But, a compiler specific to EC++ may have an easier time doing optimization. Compilers specific to EC++ are provided by companies such as: *

Freescale Semiconductor Freescale Semiconductor, Inc. was an American semiconductor manufacturer. It was created by the divestiture of the Semiconductor Products Sector of Motorola in 2004. Freescale focused their integrated circuit products on the automotive, embe ...

, (spin-off from

Motorola Motorola, Inc. () was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, United States. After having lost $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009, the company split into two independent public companies, Motorol ...

in 2004 who had acquired

Metrowerks Metrowerks was a company that developed software development tools for various desktop, handheld, embedded, and gaming platforms. Its flagship product, CodeWarrior, comprised an IDE, compilers, linkers, debuggers, libraries, and related tools. I ...

in 1999) *Tasking Software, part of Altium Limited *

Green Hills Software Green Hills Software is a privately owned company that builds operating systems and programming tools for embedded systems. The firm was founded in 1982 by Dan O'Dowd and Carl Rosenberg. Its world headquarters are in Santa Barbara, California. ...

Criticism

The language has had a poor reception with many expert C++ programmers. In particular,

Bjarne Stroustrup Bjarne Stroustrup (; ; born 30 December 1950) is a Danish computer scientist, most notable for the invention and development of the C++ programming language. As of July 2022, Stroustrup is a professor of Computer Science at Columbia University ...

says, "To the best of my knowledge EC++ is dead (2004), and if it isn't it ought to be." In fact, the official English EC++ website has not been updated since 2002. Nevertheless, a restricted subset of C++ (based on Embedded C++) has been adopted by

Apple Inc. Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company ...

as the exclusive programming language to create all I/O Kit device drivers for Apple's macOS, iPadOS and iOS operating systems of the popular Macintosh, iPhone, and iPad products. Apple engineers felt the exceptions, multiple inheritance, templates, and runtime type information features of standard C++ were either insufficient or not efficient enough for use in a high-performance, multithreaded kernel.

References

External links

*
Background and Objectives of the Embedded C++ Specification Development

Embedded C++ Yields Faster Smaller Code
John Carbone (Embedded.com), June 19, 1998
Building Bare-Metal ARM Systems with GNU: Part 1 - Getting Started
Miro Samek, Quantum Leaps, June 26, 2007
Technical Report on C++ Performance
by WG 21 of ISO Subcommittee SC 22 C++ programming language family

Hardware description languages Embedded systems {{Embedded systems