An extensive survey recently published in the US showed that the availability and quality of software development tools is, by far, the most important factor for an engineer when choosing a microprocessor. Their importance was likened to a carpenter’s tools – the processor may change, as could the wood, but the tools still form the interface, the extension of the craftsmen/engineer to the medium.
The empirical evidence shows it is possible to build a successful business from developing and supplying high quality editors, compilers, linkers and debuggers. The environment where those point solutions operate, however, is changing. It is, quite literally, being Eclipsed.
Eclipse is the open source development environment that has been described as being suitable for ‘everything and nothing in particular’, which isn’t really that helpful. More helpful, however, is the embedded community’s adoption of Eclipse, which should be good news for all.
Historically, Eclipse was Java oriented – written in Java for Java – but it isn’t restricted to that (hence the reference to ‘everything and nothing in particular’). Of course, it’s still written in Java and, as such, needs a Java runtime environment (level 1.4.2 or higher) to run, irrespective of the host. But there is an active developer community that is ensuring Eclipse’s full potential should be realised.
An important part of that potential is plug ins (more on that later), while for readers of this magazine its potential for embedded software development will likely hold the most interest.
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