{"id":152,"date":"2021-12-27T21:27:09","date_gmt":"2021-12-27T21:27:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/127.0.0.1\/wordpress\/?p=152"},"modified":"2021-12-31T12:51:57","modified_gmt":"2021-12-31T12:51:57","slug":"the-agility-challenge-for-embedded-software","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/127.0.0.1\/wordpress\/the-agility-challenge-for-embedded-software\/","title":{"rendered":"The agility Challenge for Embedded Software"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"152\" class=\"elementor elementor-152\" data-elementor-settings=\"[]\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-section-wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-inner-section elementor-element elementor-element-66651a6 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"66651a6\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-inner-column elementor-element elementor-element-9bb5dc6\" data-id=\"9bb5dc6\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-56e818d elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"56e818d\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.5.0 - 12-12-2021 *\/\n.elementor-heading-title{padding:0;margin:0;line-height:1}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title[class*=elementor-size-]>a{color:inherit;font-size:inherit;line-height:inherit}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-small{font-size:15px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-medium{font-size:19px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-large{font-size:29px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-xl{font-size:39px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-xxl{font-size:59px}<\/style><h1 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">The agility Challenge for Embedded Software<\/h1>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-31a5a54 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"31a5a54\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.5.0 - 12-12-2021 *\/\n.elementor-widget-image{text-align:center}.elementor-widget-image a{display:inline-block}.elementor-widget-image a img[src$=\".svg\"]{width:48px}.elementor-widget-image img{vertical-align:middle;display:inline-block}<\/style>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img width=\"800\" height=\"334\" src=\"http:\/\/127.0.0.1\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/embedded_sw_thin-1024x428-1.png\" class=\"attachment-large size-large\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"http:\/\/127.0.0.1\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/embedded_sw_thin-1024x428-1.png 1024w, http:\/\/127.0.0.1\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/embedded_sw_thin-1024x428-1-300x125.png 300w, http:\/\/127.0.0.1\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/embedded_sw_thin-1024x428-1-768x321.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-951a5c0 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"951a5c0\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.5.0 - 12-12-2021 *\/\n.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-stacked .elementor-drop-cap{background-color:#818a91;color:#fff}.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-framed .elementor-drop-cap{color:#818a91;border:3px solid;background-color:transparent}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap{margin-top:8px}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap-letter{width:1em;height:1em}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap{float:left;text-align:center;line-height:1;font-size:50px}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap-letter{display:inline-block}<\/style>\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-d354018 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default elementor-section elementor-top-section\" data-id=\"d354018\" data-element_type=\"section\"><div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\"><div class=\"elementor-row\"><div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3ad0062 elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column\" data-id=\"3ad0062\" data-element_type=\"column\"><div class=\"elementor-column-wrap  elementor-element-populated\"><div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap\"><div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-15c697f elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"15c697f\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\"><div class=\"elementor-widget-container\"><div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\">If you\u2019ve ever worked for a business that has it\u2019s core focus in the embedded software space, I suspect you are more likely to have had to tolerate software development practices from 20 years ago. If you\u2019ve read many books on Agile software development, DevOps or other modern practices, you may also have noticed that they almost all talk about software that targets a server or website, possibly a PC. But unless you\u2019re reading a very different library to me, you\u2019ll not have seen much talk about embedded software. Why is this?<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section><section class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-c38e0dd elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default elementor-section elementor-top-section\" data-id=\"c38e0dd\" data-element_type=\"section\"><div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\"><div class=\"elementor-row\"><div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b926d2d elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column\" data-id=\"b926d2d\" data-element_type=\"column\"><div class=\"elementor-column-wrap  elementor-element-populated\"><div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap\"><div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-e5af8f3 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"e5af8f3\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\"><div class=\"elementor-widget-container\"><div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\">First of all, \u201cEmbedded software\u201d is a little nebulous (a mobile phone could be considered an embedded platform, but these days has modern PC rivalling specs &amp; connectivity) \u2013 for this article, a platform can be considered more \u201cEmbedded\u201d the more resource constrained it is (I\u2019m talking low-cost, low power devices with minimal or no UI) and\/or the more application specific the hardware is (i.e. ASICs \u201cApplication Specific Integrated Circuit\u201d).<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section><section class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-95ebab9 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default elementor-section elementor-top-section\" data-id=\"95ebab9\" data-element_type=\"section\"><div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\"><div class=\"elementor-row\"><div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4d42367 elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column\" data-id=\"4d42367\" data-element_type=\"column\"><div class=\"elementor-column-wrap  elementor-element-populated\"><div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap\"><div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ebb56e6 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"ebb56e6\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\"><div class=\"elementor-widget-container\"><div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\"><p>Embedded Software is (unfortunately, as I\u2019m such an Agile nerd) what the majority of my career has focussed on. But I\u2019m lucky, I\u2019ve experienced life outside this world too. Working in IoT you start to see how software for a cloud platform can operate when done well \u2013 suddenly all those great ideas touted by the books, conferences and blogs can be seen in action.<\/p><p>THIS is how I got hooked. THIS is the way things should be done.<\/p><p>Effective agility is a major challenge for the embedded software world though\u2026. Probably not an insurmountable one, but a much bigger one than the platforms they write the books about.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section><section class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-c9fc04d elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default elementor-section elementor-top-section\" data-id=\"c9fc04d\" data-element_type=\"section\"><div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\"><div class=\"elementor-row\"><div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-406980c elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column\" data-id=\"406980c\" data-element_type=\"column\"><div class=\"elementor-column-wrap  elementor-element-populated\"><div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap\"><div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-84c9f41 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"84c9f41\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\"><div class=\"elementor-widget-container\"><div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\">In this article I\u2019ll identify the core reasons why I think it\u2019s such a challenge, based on my experience of driving Agile transformations in the teams I\u2019ve managed and businesses I\u2019ve worked for.<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ba453ef elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"ba453ef\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Hardware Production Timelines and Costs<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ca6bd6f elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"ca6bd6f\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-178ea74 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"178ea74\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\"><div class=\"elementor-widget-container\"><div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\">Software agility relies on the fact that software is, as it\u2019s name suggests, \u201csoft\u201d. It can be changed easily (architectural and readability considerations aside) and cheaply. Hardware on the other hand is \u201chard\u201d \u2013 usually time consuming and expensive to change.<\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ed6c94e elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"ed6c94e\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\"><div class=\"elementor-widget-container\"><div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\">For those in the cloud space, hardware has become almost invisible, abstracted far away from your software with the use of virtual machines and containers. You need another server? No need to gear up a production line, nor even place an order with a retailer \u2013 it\u2019s yours, to your specification, in literal seconds and at miniscule cost.<\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4fee676 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"4fee676\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\"><div class=\"elementor-widget-container\"><div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\"><p>With embedded, this is a very different story. If you\u2019re developing a new product, that product will be painfully expensive and time consuming to build. As a result, the company is going to be very twitchy about everything being ready according to a long, rigid, hardware project plan. The software timeline is often intrinsically tied to the hardware timeline.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3f4e6ae elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"3f4e6ae\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Inflexible Customer Contracts\n<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2115d2d elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"2115d2d\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Certainly not limited to embedded, but more likely due the closely coupled hardware aspect. Customers for your new embedded offering may be more likely to put in place heavy, up front, contracts with late-delivery penalties \u2013 this renders business agility void which, I\u2019d argue, thwarts technical agility for all intents and purposes (if, indeed, those two concepts can be separated).<br \/><i>Lest we forget<\/i>: customer collaboration over contract negotiation<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2f7bba6 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"2f7bba6\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Resource Limitations<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b7cda32 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"b7cda32\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div data-id=\"e2ff892\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\"><div><div><p>I\u2019m cheating a bit here as I\u2019m using this as a literal definition of \u201cembedded\u201d, but embedded systems are often extremely resource poor due to the heavy focus on BOM (Bill Of Materials) costs. The BOM is a serious consideration for any new electronic device. Every cent on the BOM is multiplied several times to get to a list price, as the product navigates its way from the production line onto the shelves. This isn\u2019t the only pressure, there\u2019s also the fact that these devices are often portable and reliant on a small battery, with precious limited power, to function.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><div data-id=\"1977b7c\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\"><div><div><p>The power, memory, and processing limitations that embedded platforms face are often seen as a significant challenge when developing embedded applications. The focus tends to be on how many features can be included and how the device manages these in various power states, but the implications are far wider than this.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><div data-id=\"2e0ad5a\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\"><div><div><p>In order to squeeze performance out of highly resource constrained devices, certain decisions can be made that make agility difficult. Some examples include:<\/p><div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cf41157 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"cf41157\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\"><div class=\"elementor-widget-container\"><h6 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Development Language Selection<\/h6><\/div><\/div><div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-a9c0430 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"a9c0430\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\"><div class=\"elementor-widget-container\"><div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\"><p>No software developer in their right mind would be choosing assembler or C as the language of choice for anything other than performance reasons. C++ is the highest level development language I\u2019ve seen used for an ASIC.<br \/>The impact of this choice, while understandable, is low readability and a lack of support for modern development tools and techniques.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-61b5160 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"61b5160\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\"><div class=\"elementor-widget-container\"><h6 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Architecture and Code Cleanliness<\/h6><\/div><\/div><div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-018c219 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"018c219\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\"><div class=\"elementor-widget-container\"><div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\"><p>I\u2019m certainly not saying that it\u2019s impossible to develop cleanly architected code on an embedded system, but there does seem to be such a focus on resource limitations that often code readability and efforts to ensure low coupling are de-prioritised in order to squeeze that extra bit of performance out of the device. I\u2019m sure this is not limited to embedded systems, but it is a pervasive pressure on them.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4579004 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"4579004\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\"><div class=\"elementor-widget-container\"><div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\"><p>Why does this create a challenge for agility? Low readability impacts the speed at which code can be understood and changed, high coupling reduces the safety of making changes without unwanted side effects. Effective agility requires that you can make software changes with maximum speed and minimum uncertainty.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><p>\u00a0<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-a456946 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"a456946\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Testability<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-51c12ba elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"51c12ba\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-dde0ecb elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"dde0ecb\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\"><div class=\"elementor-widget-container\"><div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\"><p>A critical element of agility is having high confidence in the robustness of your software at all times. In order to achieve this confidence, you need effective automated testing.<br \/>Embedded suffers with several significant testability challenges.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-45233c0 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"45233c0\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\"><div class=\"elementor-widget-container\"><h6 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Speed<\/h6><\/div><\/div><div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-38c4074 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"38c4074\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\"><div class=\"elementor-widget-container\"><div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\"><p>How quickly can you run a test for new code on the target device? Typically the device needs to be re-programmed before you even start the test, this can take significant time depending on the size of the application the NAND (common low-cost non volatile memory used in embedded systems) write speed and a host of other potential bottlenecks.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ea8bed2 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"ea8bed2\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\"><div class=\"elementor-widget-container\"><div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\"><p>On top of this, you typically can\u2019t run the test framework on the device itself due to resource constraints, so a test machine will be poking at it over various IO interfaces and polling on responses.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4070912 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"4070912\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\"><div class=\"elementor-widget-container\"><div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\"><p>This may only increase test run time by a matter of milliseconds per test, but these milliseconds quickly add up.<br \/>For effective agility, we\u2019re going to want to complete a build, setup, test and teardown within a reasonable time to enable continuous integration.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-88d3984 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"88d3984\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\"><div class=\"elementor-widget-container\"><h6 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">On-Target Testing Reliability<\/h6><\/div><\/div><div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0acf398 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"0acf398\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\"><div class=\"elementor-widget-container\"><div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\"><p>What is worse than slow test suites when trying to establish continuous integration? Flaky tests!<br \/>What\u2019s the most infuriating cause of flaky tests? Flaky hardware.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2f3dd15 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"2f3dd15\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\"><div class=\"elementor-widget-container\"><div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\"><p>You\u2019re likely to be running on-target testing using numerous 3rd party devices such as Flash programmers, signal generators, USB hubs, programmable power sockets, adaptors, wires and a host of other ad-hoc hardware that may not be designed for prolonged test robustness. On top of this, for the most critical phase of your project you\u2019ll be running tests on pre-production hardware \u2013 highly likely to be less than flawless.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-23e96e0 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"23e96e0\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\"><div class=\"elementor-widget-container\"><h6 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Write Cycle Limitations<\/h6><\/div><\/div><div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3704bc7 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"3704bc7\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\"><div class=\"elementor-widget-container\"><div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\"><p>Partially due to the nature of NAND flash, but exacerbated by the likelihood that you\u2019ll be using close to 100% of it due to the resource constraints we covered earlier, plus the limited wear-levelling options you have when programming devices for test.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-753d5ec elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"753d5ec\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\"><div class=\"elementor-widget-container\"><div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\"><p>For those not familiar with NAND flash, it\u2019s typically the non-volatile memory used in SSDs, USB flash drives, memory cards and other embedded devices. It\u2019s low cost and decently fast, but suffers from some drawbacks like memory wear. Memory wear is, as it\u2019s name suggests, is a limitation in which any particular block of memory has an average number of write\/erase cycles before it becomes unusable. The limit is large, but CI runs a lot.<\/p><p>It\u2019s not unusual to see target hardware start failing well within a year due to this limitation, in my experience.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b7b0400 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"b7b0400\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Customer Feedback Hurdles<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-d7bfec4 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"d7bfec4\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6d7dd93 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"6d7dd93\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\"><div class=\"elementor-widget-container\"><div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\"><p>What is agility without feedback? The ideal place to get this feedback is from customers. We suffer on this front with embedded development too, here are a few of the key reasons.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-f068b79 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"f068b79\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\"><div class=\"elementor-widget-container\"><h6 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Your Customer Needs Your Hardware<\/h6><\/div><\/div><div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2c013f6 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"2c013f6\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\"><div class=\"elementor-widget-container\"><div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\"><p>In order to be any use at all, the customer(s) need your hardware in order to try the product and provide feedback. Unfortunately, the time you could really use this the most is before you\u2019ve hit mass production. Your walking skeleton is ready, but you only have a dozen devices from a short, low cost (high cost per unit, low cost in total) pre-production run.<\/p><p>No one has this problem with PC software, a website or a cloud service \u2013 all the hardware required for those are ubiquitous.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-f5274a5 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"f5274a5\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\"><div class=\"elementor-widget-container\"><h6 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Connectivity Limitations<\/h6><\/div><\/div><div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-abf7df6 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"abf7df6\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\"><div class=\"elementor-widget-container\"><div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\"><p>A device without connectivity can\u2019t be updated. This is becoming less of a problem over time as IoT takes off (replaced with a myriad of other problems), but even if a device has an active connection to the internet, there are significant constraints around the connectivity needed to provide software updates.<br \/>Is it acceptable to drain a bunch of battery power or interrupt functionality to perform a SW update &amp; how often?<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-a2ddaeb elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"a2ddaeb\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\"><div class=\"elementor-widget-container\"><h6 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">UI Limitations<\/h6><\/div><\/div><div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ca64e58 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"ca64e58\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\"><div class=\"elementor-widget-container\"><div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\"><p>How do I get the customer feedback once we\u2019re out in the field? How can we check with the user if it\u2019s ok to accept a SW update and reboot?<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-9423fde elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"9423fde\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Nice Rant - So What Are Our Options?\n<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-27eef2c elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"27eef2c\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-313fbcb elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default elementor-section elementor-top-section\" data-id=\"313fbcb\" data-element_type=\"section\"><div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\"><div class=\"elementor-row\"><div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-701e651 elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column\" data-id=\"701e651\" data-element_type=\"column\"><div class=\"elementor-column-wrap  elementor-element-populated\"><div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap\"><div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6399a91 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"6399a91\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\"><div class=\"elementor-widget-container\"><div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\"><p>I think there is some value in just raising awareness of the challenges &amp; opening it up for debate; but it\u2019s fair to say that it\u2019s even more useful to suggest ways to address these challenges, so here are my 2 cents:<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-54038bb elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"54038bb\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\"><div class=\"elementor-widget-container\"><h6 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Hardware Production Timelines and Costs<\/h6><\/div><\/div><section class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5692b04 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default elementor-section elementor-inner-section\" data-id=\"5692b04\" data-element_type=\"section\"><div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\"><div class=\"elementor-row\"><div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-071b7a0 elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-inner-column\" data-id=\"071b7a0\" data-element_type=\"column\"><div class=\"elementor-column-wrap  elementor-element-populated\"><div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap\"><div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-23f9aa6 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"23f9aa6\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\"><div class=\"elementor-widget-container\"><div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\"><p>Probably the most challenging aspect as agility is only valuable when change is low cost. Technically, though, there is very little difference between long term planning for hardware and long term planning for marketing\/key demos\/investors. There key here is to identify your options for iterative HW development early.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5a099e1 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"5a099e1\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\"><div class=\"elementor-widget-container\"><div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\"><p>This may be achieved with Emulation, Simulation, mimicking functionality by strapping existing hardware together, and\/or finding a manufacturing partner that specialises in rapid prototype development (they do exist).<br \/>Each of these options come with nuanced limitations as to how well they can simulate your targeted product along with differing benefits to you and your customers.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b9bf5de elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"b9bf5de\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\"><div class=\"elementor-widget-container\"><div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\"><p>Identify your priorities for Hardware agility (e.g. Verifying software logic, demoing real world use, the importance of form factor, key areas for feedback) and choose the most appropriate options.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section><div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-9f108cf elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"9f108cf\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\"><div class=\"elementor-widget-container\"><h6 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Inflexible Customer Contracts\u200b<\/h6><\/div><\/div><section class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6ab09d6 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default elementor-section elementor-inner-section\" data-id=\"6ab09d6\" data-element_type=\"section\"><div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\"><div class=\"elementor-row\"><div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1cb3b46 elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-inner-column\" data-id=\"1cb3b46\" data-element_type=\"column\"><div class=\"elementor-column-wrap  elementor-element-populated\"><div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap\"><div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-46b3fcc elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"46b3fcc\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\"><div class=\"elementor-widget-container\"><div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\"><p>Although a common challenge for agility in other fields, I do believe embedded is particularly hard hit on this one.<br \/>The most affective approach you can employ here is to try to work with your customer(s) to take a step back from the detailed requirements list. What are the outcomes that the customer wants to achieve, and how would they prioritise them? This can be a tough conversation, but your goal is to understand the real business value of the product, from your customers view.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-c77111c elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"c77111c\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\"><div class=\"elementor-widget-container\"><div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\"><p>From this, collaboratively build a contract that identifies the required outcomes, rather than specific, detailed outputs. This both gives you the required wiggle room to manage scope, build an early walking skeleton and provides you with an opportunity to get creative on the work not done, all while addressing the customers real value rather than ticking off a requirements list.<br \/>This will not be perfect and is not the end of the story, of course, close customer collaboration and feedback needs to be maintained throughout.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-c4fec1d elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"c4fec1d\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\"><div class=\"elementor-widget-container\"><div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\"><p>No doubt this is a poor second place to a rolling service contract &amp; requires a customer that\u2019s willing to collaborate, but will be a step in the right direction.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section><div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ce7803e elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"ce7803e\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\"><div class=\"elementor-widget-container\"><h6 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Resource Limitations<\/h6><\/div><\/div><section class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b2c75a1 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default elementor-section elementor-inner-section\" data-id=\"b2c75a1\" data-element_type=\"section\"><div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\"><div class=\"elementor-row\"><div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-8ec7dd0 elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-inner-column\" data-id=\"8ec7dd0\" data-element_type=\"column\"><div class=\"elementor-column-wrap  elementor-element-populated\"><div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap\"><div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-31da73b elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"31da73b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\"><div class=\"elementor-widget-container\"><div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\"><p>This is a challenge that most embedded product developers are fully aware of and will typically create early evaluation prototypes with increased resources to allow for a smoother software development process.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-a3077fe elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"a3077fe\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\"><div class=\"elementor-widget-container\"><div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\"><p>This does not address the issues around selection of programming language and adherence to good architectural &amp; development practice in order to enable agility. The first question to ask ourselves is \u201cAre we really improving efficiency when we sacrifice clean architecture and code?\u201d, how good is our compiler at optimising for us? These are not questions that can be answered wholesale, but consider refactoring some area of the application and comparing code size and execution clock cycles before and after. No doubt some areas are more efficient in assembler, but how would an OO structure actually compare to Functional?<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-e0f9d0e elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"e0f9d0e\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\"><div class=\"elementor-widget-container\"><div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\"><p>The ASICs that a certain company I worked for designed had the vast majority of the firmware written in C++ instead of C \u2013 these ASICs were all about efficiency, powering USB hubs supporting multiple displays and other peripherals at lightening speed. It can be done.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section><div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-10d69de elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"10d69de\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\"><div class=\"elementor-widget-container\"><h6 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Testability<\/h6><\/div><\/div><section class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1b59b21 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default elementor-section elementor-inner-section\" data-id=\"1b59b21\" data-element_type=\"section\"><div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\"><div class=\"elementor-row\"><div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-83e20b1 elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-inner-column\" data-id=\"83e20b1\" data-element_type=\"column\"><div class=\"elementor-column-wrap  elementor-element-populated\"><div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap\"><div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-e16a696 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"e16a696\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\"><div class=\"elementor-widget-container\"><div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\"><p>There really is no substitute for testing on target, but you can look at ways to ensure it\u2019s not throttling your software development pipeline.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b291a70 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"b291a70\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\"><div class=\"elementor-widget-container\"><div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\"><p>At an embedded security company I worked for, we suffered with 30+ minute CI pipelines even after spending significant time and effort refactoring and parallelising the jobs. The target hardware were third party prototypes and we lacked simulation &amp; quantity. We ended up taking the approach of building a framework with cross compiled firmware to run on a PC in order to test basic code logic and segregated the testing coverage between commit and overnight runs.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-237c22e elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"237c22e\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\"><div class=\"elementor-widget-container\"><div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\"><p>Commit testing included what we defined as \u2018core features\u2019, which included the functionality behind our core offering to the market. Overnight testing checked compatibility and performance across less typical configurations.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-bd8f745 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"bd8f745\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\"><div class=\"elementor-widget-container\"><div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\"><p>As for reliability issues with target test setups, I have considered setting up a website where those maintaining embedded CI rigs can suggest and review various hardware that offers good reliability and features relevant for CI. In my experience, there are a lot of shared needs across companies using embedded test setups. As for now, the best advice I can offer is ask the wider community, review what places like kernelci are using and other boardfarms for public domain software. Don\u2019t pick cheap equipment, you\u2019ll lose far more than you save on maintenance and debugging (and probably buying something else in the end).<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section><div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-c194f0b elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"c194f0b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\"><div class=\"elementor-widget-container\"><h6 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Customer Feedback Hurdles<\/h6><\/div><\/div><section class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6419823 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default elementor-section elementor-inner-section\" data-id=\"6419823\" data-element_type=\"section\"><div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\"><div class=\"elementor-row\"><div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-58b095f elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-inner-column\" data-id=\"58b095f\" data-element_type=\"column\"><div class=\"elementor-column-wrap  elementor-element-populated\"><div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap\"><div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-61910e4 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"61910e4\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\"><div class=\"elementor-widget-container\"><div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\"><p>Finally, then, how do we get the feedback we need?<br \/>To be honest, if your device does not have some form of data connection to the outside world, a lot of what I am about to suggest is not possible and it\u2019s not within my expertise to advise on that, unfortunately. However, for those that do\u2026<br \/>It can\u2019t be overstated how important it is to design in a secure software update mechanism if at all possible \u2013 this is not just for providing customers with updates, but also to mitigate the huge security risks that IoT devices face (and I believe, these days, it\u2019s written into law in many jurisdictions).<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-99fed9c elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"99fed9c\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\"><div class=\"elementor-widget-container\"><div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\"><p>If you\u2019re here are lacking the expertise locally, there are specialist companies now that offer solutions to enable secure software updates on embedded devices, along with IP protection and more. SecureThingz is one that I\u2019m aware of.<br \/>Next up, logging. For any connected device, prioritise the ability to log the state transitions and accompanying timestamps of your device to a location that you can access. There are some legal considerations around this once the devices are in the field, so have a legal team advise you on what can and can\u2019t be done. Your CI and local testing can help you hone your logging to be as useful as possible.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-94f144d elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"94f144d\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\"><div class=\"elementor-widget-container\"><div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\"><p>Finally, ensure you build a customer portal for capturing feedback, if your on-device options are limited. Ensure that for bugs and\/or unexpected behaviour you\u2019re able to identify the corresponding log and time in order to investigate.<br \/>Getting customers interacting with your product:<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-d7f9edb elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"d7f9edb\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\"><div class=\"elementor-widget-container\"><div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\"><p><strong>If you\u2019re working B2B<\/strong><\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3bd1222 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"3bd1222\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\"><div class=\"elementor-widget-container\"><div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\"><p>It seems obvious, but budget for and get early prototypes out to customers as well as to your engineers. There\u2019s often a fear around showing something to a customer that isn\u2019t polished, I believe this fear needs to be confronted and become fearless prototyping to be a standard way of working.<br \/>If it\u2019s not possible to send physical hardware to customers, consider if there is a way to sensibly mimic the user experience of the product using simulation. If you anticipate this product to evolve on your roadmap, it will be a worthwhile investment.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-fc2f1b7 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"fc2f1b7\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\"><div class=\"elementor-widget-container\"><div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\"><p><strong>If you\u2019re working B2C<\/strong><\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0f7c079 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"0f7c079\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\"><div class=\"elementor-widget-container\"><div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\"><p>It\u2019s a little harder to manage, but getting early beta trials out is important. I\u2019ve worked with companies like CenterCode that will manage the selection, distribution and contact with members of the public that are keen to try out new devices on the understanding that they won\u2019t be polished. In my experience, you will get reasonably high quality, candid feedback from people who are engaged and understand that you are in development and want to help you deliver a great product.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section><section class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-36445a0 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default elementor-section elementor-top-section\" data-id=\"36445a0\" data-element_type=\"section\"><div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\"><div class=\"elementor-row\"><div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-d8a833c elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column\" data-id=\"d8a833c\" data-element_type=\"column\"><div class=\"elementor-column-wrap  elementor-element-populated\"><div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap\"><div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-d8b6ae6 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"d8b6ae6\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\"><div class=\"elementor-widget-container\"><div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\"><p>So that is my overview of the challenges for embedded software development adopting Agile, I hope that some of it has been helpful. I\u2019m very interested in differing opinions and options. I do think that this industry could benefit heavily from addressing some of these challenges and identifying any others that hold us back too.<br \/>Thanks for reading.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The agility Challenge for Embedded Software If you\u2019ve ever worked for a business that has it\u2019s core focus in the embedded software space, I suspect you are more likely to have had to tolerate software development practices from 20 years ago. If you\u2019ve read many books on Agile software development, DevOps or other modern practices, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":154,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6,9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/127.0.0.1\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/127.0.0.1\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/127.0.0.1\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/127.0.0.1\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/127.0.0.1\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=152"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"http:\/\/127.0.0.1\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":164,"href":"http:\/\/127.0.0.1\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152\/revisions\/164"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/127.0.0.1\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/127.0.0.1\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/127.0.0.1\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/127.0.0.1\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}