Design Patterns for Embedded Systems

Who should attend?

This course is primarily designed for developers, architects or technical leads who are responsible for the development of software for embedded and/or realtime systems with limited resources. Despite its focussing on memory and runtime requirements this training is also suitable for developers of applications where resource limitation is not an issue.

Pre-requisites:

A good working knowledge of C++ and a basic understanding of object oriented principles. Knowledge of basic UML (Unified Modeling Language) is useful but not a requirement. With respect to UML diagrams this training teaches everything that is needed in this course.

Duration:

5 days ( including practical exercises )

Course Description:

This course demonstrates under which conditions the classic Design Patterns of the "Gang of Four" (GoF) can profitably be used in resource-constrained embedded systems. It covers a selection of design patterns particularly suited for this purpose, presenting them through hardware-related or other applications typical of embedded systems. The classes and relationships necessary for implementing these design patterns are not only presented conceptually through UML diagrams but are also developed step-by-step using fully programmed code examples. This approach enables a thorough assessment of the costs in terms of memory usage and runtime in relation to the benefits of using a design pattern. Additionally, the examples illustrate how the SOLID principles of modern clean code programming work in conjunction with design patterns and how these contribute to the improvement of the software design quality. The course also addresses the memory and runtime overhead caused by using traditional debugging methods and demonstrates how these issues can be resolved using pattern-based solutions. By doing so, it becomes evident that the use of design patterns not only leads to a better software structure but can also result in a more efficient utilisation of the system resources, which is particularly crucial in embedded systems

Course Outline:

Introduction

History
What is a design pattern?
GoF Design Patterns
Typical problems in embedded systems
Design patterns in embedded systems

Creational Patterns

Motor example
Interfaces
Tracking system example
Trolley tracking system
Reusing the tracking system for aircrafts
Design Pattern Factory Method
Design Pattern Prototype
Design Pattern Abstract Factory
Design Pattern Singleton

Structural Patterns

Review of the motor example
Design Pattern Adapter
Counter classes example
Design Pattern Decorator
Multithreading example
Design Pattern Proxy
Design Pattern Flyweight
Design Pattern Facade
Design Pattern Composite

Behavioural Patterns

Timer example
Design Pattern Observer
Design Pattern Command
Finite State Machine example
Traditional implementation in C
Porting the FSM to C++
Design Pattern State
Custom memory management example
Partition and PartitionManager
Flexible memory management using different manager classes
Dynamically alterable memory allocation strategies
Design Pattern Strategy
Algorithms with a fixed base structure
Design Pattern Template Method
Design Pattern Memento
Design Pattern Chain of Responsibility
Design Pattern Iterator
Design Pattern Mediator