We have to use C “for performance reasons” [closed]

Answer 1

C is ubiquitous, available for almost any architecture, usually from day-one of a processor's availability. C++ is a close second. If your system can support C++ and you have the necessary expertise, use it in preference to C - it is all that C is, and more, so there are few reasons for not using it.

C++ is a larger language, and there are constructs and techniques supported that may consume resources or behave in unacceptable ways in an embedded system, but that is not a reason not to use the language, but rather how to use it appropriately.

Java and C# (on Micro.Net or WinCE) may be viable alternatives for non-real-time.

Answer 2

C really is your best choice.

There is a difference for writing portable C code and getting too deep into the ghee whiz features of a specific compiler or corner cases of the language (all of which should be avoided). But portability across compilers and compiler versions. The number of employees that will be capable of developing for or maintaining the code. The compilers are going to have an easier time with it and produce better, cleaner, and more reliable code.

C is not going anywhere, with all the new languages being designed to fix the flaws in all the prior languages. C, with all the flaws these new languages are trying to fix, still stands strong.

Answer 3

C compilers are much faster even on desktop systems, because of how few langage features there are compared to C++, so I'd imagine the difference is non-trivial on embedded systems. This translates to faster iteration times, although OTOH you don't have the conveniences of C++ (such as collections) which may slow you down in the long run.

Answer 4

Apart from performance, there is another consideration: you'll most likely be dealing with low-level APIs that were designed to be used in C or C++.

If you cannot use some SDK, you'll only get yourself in trouble instead of saving time with developing using a higher level language. At the very least, you'll end up redoing a bunch of function declarations and constant definitions.

Answer 5

In my experience, using C for embedded and systems programming isn't necessarily a performance issue - it's often a portability issue. C tends to be the most portable, well supported language on just about every platform, especially on embedded systems platforms.

If you wish to use something else in an embedded system, it's often a matter of figuring out what options are available, then determining whether the performance, memory consumption, library support, etc, are "good enough" for your situation.

Answer 6

You may want to look at the D programming language. It could use some performance tuning, as there are some areas Python can outperform it. I can't really point you to benchmarking comparisons since haven't been keeping a list, but as pointed to by Peter Olsson, Benchmarks & Language Implementations has D Digital Mars.

You will probably also want to look at these lovely questions:

• Getting Embedded with D (the programming language)
• How would you approach using D in a embedded real-time environment?