Embedded Software Development: The Open-Source Approach delivers a practical introduction to embedded software development, with a focus on open-source components. This programmer-centric book is written in a way that enables even novice practitioners to grasp the development process as a whole.

Incorporating real code fragments and explicit, real-world open-source operating system references (in particular, FreeRTOS) throughout, the text:

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• Defines the role and purpose of embedded systems, describing their internal structure and interfacing with software development tools
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• Examines the inner workings of the GNU compiler collection (GCC)-based software development system or, in other words, toolchain
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• Presents software execution models that can be adopted profitably to model and express concurrency
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• Addresses the basic nomenclature, models, and concepts related to task-based scheduling algorithms
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• Shows how an open-source protocol stack can be integrated in an embedded system and interfaced with other software components
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• Analyzes the main components of the FreeRTOS Application Programming Interface (API), detailing the implementation of key operating system concepts
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• Discusses advanced topics such as formal verification, model checking, runtime checks, memory corruption, security, and dependability

Embedded Software Development: The Open-Source Approach capitalizes on the authors' extensive research on real-time operating systems and communications used in embedded applications, often carried out in strict cooperation with industry. Thus, the book serves as a springboard for further research.