C++ usage in embedded systems

Question

What features of C++ should be avoided in embedded systems?

Please classify the answer by reason such as:

• memory usage
• code size
• speed<

Answer 1

Choosing to avoid certain features should always be driven by quantitative analysis of the behavior of your software, on your hardware, with your chosen toolchain, under the constraints your domain entails. There are a lot of conventional wisdom "don'ts" in C++ development which are based on superstition and ancient history rather than hard data. Unfortunately, this often results in a lot of extra workaround code being written to avoid using features that someone, somewhere, had a problem with once upon a time.