Writing generic code when your target is a C compiler
- by enobayram
I need to write some algorithms for a PIC micro controller. AFAIK, the official tools support either assembler or a subset of C.
My goal is to write the algorithms in a generic and reusable way without losing any runtime or memory performance. And if possible, I would like to do this without increasing the development time much and compromising the readability and maintainability much either.
What I mean by generic and reusable is that I don't want to commit to types, array sizes, number of bits in a bit field etc. All these specifications, IMHO, point to C++ templates, but there's no compiler for it for my target. C macro metaprogramming is another option, but, again my opinion, that greatly reduces readability and increases development time.
I believe what I'm looking for is a decent C++ to C translator, but I'd like to hear anything else that satisfies the above requirements. Maybe a translator from another high-level language to C that produces very efficient code, maybe something else.
Please note that I have nothing against C, I just wish templates were available in it.
