Re: STM32 ARM toolset advice?

In article <48F9EE2C.CA6F7E19@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, walter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
says...


Mark Borgerson wrote:

I seem to recall a classic example from an early 8051 compiler: If you
set optimization high and to minimize memory, it would overlay
variables in the limited RAM space. That made reading the assembly
language pretty confusing at times.

Mark Borgerson

Mark,

The assembly can look confusing, but in a well implemented compiler
the variable can be followed by symbolic name as the compiled code
walks through the code. Physical RAM locations contain different
variables depending on the current PC value. The ChipTools 8051
symbolic debuggers did a good job of tracking code in Keil's 8051
compiler as early as the mid 90's

The early 90's is about the time frame that I was using the 8051.
IIRC, it was a small form factor package with only about 2K
of EPROM. At the time I was using that 8051 chip, a PIC variant,
the MC68HC16, and the M68K. I TRIED to stick with one chip or another
for at least a week to minimize the context switch overhead, but
was not generally successful. IIRC, debugggers at that time
generally involved external hardware with emulator pods---which
were well above the company budget limits.

The source level debugging code should be able to track a variable
even when it temporarily resides in a register. This resolves cases
where the local variable location is reassigned instead of being moved;

x and y both local

y = x;
x = 29;

This code should not generate any code for y = x only a symbol table
change and source level debug reference change..

I expect that if I ever go back to an 8051 variant, I will better
understand the development system and expect better debugging
facilities. However, as I'm in a low-volume market where
unit cost is not a major constraint, I'll probably stick with
the MSP430 series for very low power systems and one or another
of the ARM series where I need more processing power.


Mark Borgerson
.

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