Is low-level / embedded systems programming hard for software developers? [closed]

Answer 1

You are right in that anyone with enough knowledge not to feel completely lost in an area (over the hump?) will enjoy the challenges of learning something new.

I myself would feel quite nervous being moving to the level of instruction sets etc as there is a huge amount of background knowledge needed to feel comfortable in the environment.

It may make a difference if you are able to support the developer in learning how to do this. Having someone there you can ask and talk through issue with is a huge help in that sort of domain change.

It may be worth having the developer assigned to a smaller project with others as a first step and see how that goes. If he expresses enthusiasm to try another project, things should flow on from there.

Answer 2

I like both. Embedded challenges me and really gets me going in a visceral way. Making something that affects the macro physical world is very satisfactory. But I've had to do a lot of catch up on the electrical/electronics end, since my bachelor's is in computer science. I've a pretty generalist background, where I studied ai, graphics, compilers, natural language, etc. Now I'm doing graduate work in embedded systems. The really tough part is adjusting to the lack of runtime facilities like an operating system.

Answer 3

Low-level embedded programming also tends to include low-level debugging. Which (in my experience) usually involves (at least) the use of an oscilloscope. Unless your colleague is going to be happy spending at least some of the time in physical contact with the hardware and thinking in terms of microseconds and volts, I'd be tempted to leave them be.

Answer 4

"But when I talk to him about doing low-level programming, he simultaneously express interest and also doubt/uncertainty about joining the project." -- That means you let him try and you prepare to hire someone else in case he doesn't pass the learning curve.

Answer 5

i began as a SW engineer i'm now HW one ! the important is to understand how it works and to be motivated !

Answer 6

There is a very real difference in mindset from user-level application development (ie, general purpose PC or Web applications) to hard deadline, real-time response application development (ie, the hardware/software interface).

Interrupts, instruction sets, context switching and hard resource constraints are relatively unknown to your average developer. I'm assuming here that your 'average developer' is not an Electrical/Electronic or other Engineer by training.

The transition for this developer you mention may be well outside his comfort zone. Some of us like stretching like that. Others of us may have decided the view isn't worth the climb.

Likewise, folks who've been in the hardware area (ie, Engineers) often have difficulty with the assumptions and language of software development.

These are gross generalities, of course, but hopefully give some insight.