MakerSpace

Rust, a potential successor to C/C++, claims to solve some memory safety issues while maintaining high performance. We look at Rust on embedded systems, where memory safety, concurrency, and security are equally important

- Andrew Malcolm

For decades, C and increasingly C++ have been the languages of choice for microcontroller development, with assembler reserved for optimizations and start-up code. Most vendors provide free development IDEs, and most of these use GNU compilers under the hood. Some of the IDEs come with initialization code and generate device configuration code (choosing I/ O functionality, etc.), so a device can be configured in a point-and-shoot manner letting you concentrate on writing application code. Similarly, manufacturers of I/ O devices such as sensors and wireless modules supply drivers and example code.

C/ C++ is an easy-to-learn language, but it’s also easy to abuse and to write buggy code. Embedded code is expected to run unattended, often in hostile environments where code updates are difficult if not impossible. Increasingly, these devices are Internet-connected. While this means easier code updates, it requires a significant amount of extra effort to do well, and ironically this very connectivity lays the device open to nefarious access attempts. I know that there are tools available that help to minimize the risk of bad code getting into a product, and it is certainly not easy to consider rewriting large legacy codebases in another language, but I think that Rust [1] has come far enough and has sufficient advantages over C/ C++ to be considered for new code and for re-writing critical sections of existing code as a stepping stone to a full Rust implementation.

With that being said, this article is intended as a “getting started” guide: Adoption of Rust is a big step in a commercial environment, and one of the best ways to evaluate a new language is to try it! In today’s world of low-cost development boards and free software tools, all it takes is a little time and determination. Then you can base your decisions on some real-life experience.