The systems tend to have a minimum amount of memory and the 8bit CPU still rules. Whilst some of the chips become dated as the leading edge moves on the embedded world is the opposite of the desktop. One does not write SW that will run on machines that are leading edge today and common tomorrow. Lastly embedded systems are expected not to crash and if they do, to get themselves out of the jam. What's more they are expected to be fail-safe.
Embedded tools run on a host that is separate to the target.
The targets tend to be unique and may or may not run an operating system. Whilst there may be millions of embedded systems there may be only a few developers for each tool. Last Update - 11 August 2001. All rights reserved.