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I'm considering using Nim for an embedded project, because Nim can generate C or C++ code, and a C and C++ compiler is all there is for my target platform (a DS

I'm considering using Nim for an embedded project, because Nim can generate C or C++ code, and a C and C++ compiler is all there is for my target platform (a DSP). I would like to use C++11, but the manufacturer only supports C++03, and will never add support for C++11 because it's a legacy DSP.

dom96 8y ago
Sounds like Nim would be perfect for your use case. Happy to help out if you run into any problems.
- hikarudo 8y ago
  Thanks! How would I go about wrapping OpenCV's C++ API?
  - dom96 8y ago
    Here is a C++ wrapper for SFML that I made, you can use it as an example: https://github.com/dom96/nim-in-action-code/tree/master/Chapter8/sfml https://github.com/dom96/nim-in-action-code/tree/master/Chap... You can also try using `c2nim`'s cpp mode.
    - rhodysurf 8y ago
      Oh wow. That looks so frictionless, thanks for sharing the example!
- eaurouge 8y ago
  I bought your book with the hopes that you would include a chapter on embedded programming, but was disappointed to find it barely got a mention in the book. I remember an earlier discussion here where you were considering and it seemed like a real possibility. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find recent (ideally official) documentation/discussion on embedded programming. Contrast this with Rust where there's a significant focus on embedded bare metal, particularly for Cortex-M MCUs. With the recently announced support from Status, are there any plans to provide more support for embedded bare metal?
  - dom96 8y ago
    Yeah, sorry about that. The initial book plan had a chapter on embedded programming but it had to be cut because I exceeded the page count. I made a promise that I would write an article about it as a replacement and I still intend to do that. It takes time of course and I personally don't have as much embedded programming experience as I would like right now, so it'll take me even more time. But it will happen :) As far as plans for more support from Nim itself I don't think there are any specific plans right now. If you've got time and this is your passion then please consider starting contributing to Nim :)
    - eaurouge 8y ago
      That would be great if you do write an article. I would be happy to contribute, but I would really like to see some official discussion or documentation from the team first before moving forward.
  - Araq 8y ago
    Support for embedded is indeed getting into focus. I hope to release an article soon how the '--gc:regions' switch works (which is misnamed, it's a way to do memory management, not a GC...) and in the longer run the destructor-based runtime will ensure that memory is freed sooner than a GC would for memory constrained devices. Having said that, "embedded" is a wide field and sometimes one cannot even afford a heap, no matter if garbage collected or managed manually. But even then Nim can be used, you still get array bounds checking, Ada-inspired strong type checking plus the meta programming goodies.
    - eaurouge 8y ago
      Great! My interest is in bare metal environments where you typically don't use a heap. I'm not familiar with the `--gc:regions` switch, but I think a good start could be a guide on how to implement simple non-garbage collected programs.
      - snaky 8y ago

dom96 8y ago

Sounds like Nim would be perfect for your use case. Happy to help out if you run into any problems.

hikarudo 8y ago
Thanks! How would I go about wrapping OpenCV's C++ API?
- dom96 8y ago
  Here is a C++ wrapper for SFML that I made, you can use it as an example: https://github.com/dom96/nim-in-action-code/tree/master/Chapter8/sfml https://github.com/dom96/nim-in-action-code/tree/master/Chap... You can also try using `c2nim`'s cpp mode.
  - rhodysurf 8y ago
    Oh wow. That looks so frictionless, thanks for sharing the example!
eaurouge 8y ago
I bought your book with the hopes that you would include a chapter on embedded programming, but was disappointed to find it barely got a mention in the book. I remember an earlier discussion here where you were considering and it seemed like a real possibility. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find recent (ideally official) documentation/discussion on embedded programming. Contrast this with Rust where there's a significant focus on embedded bare metal, particularly for Cortex-M MCUs. With the recently announced support from Status, are there any plans to provide more support for embedded bare metal?
- dom96 8y ago
  Yeah, sorry about that. The initial book plan had a chapter on embedded programming but it had to be cut because I exceeded the page count. I made a promise that I would write an article about it as a replacement and I still intend to do that. It takes time of course and I personally don't have as much embedded programming experience as I would like right now, so it'll take me even more time. But it will happen :) As far as plans for more support from Nim itself I don't think there are any specific plans right now. If you've got time and this is your passion then please consider starting contributing to Nim :)
  - eaurouge 8y ago
    That would be great if you do write an article. I would be happy to contribute, but I would really like to see some official discussion or documentation from the team first before moving forward.
- Araq 8y ago
  Support for embedded is indeed getting into focus. I hope to release an article soon how the '--gc:regions' switch works (which is misnamed, it's a way to do memory management, not a GC...) and in the longer run the destructor-based runtime will ensure that memory is freed sooner than a GC would for memory constrained devices. Having said that, "embedded" is a wide field and sometimes one cannot even afford a heap, no matter if garbage collected or managed manually. But even then Nim can be used, you still get array bounds checking, Ada-inspired strong type checking plus the meta programming goodies.
  - eaurouge 8y ago
    Great! My interest is in bare metal environments where you typically don't use a heap. I'm not familiar with the `--gc:regions` switch, but I think a good start could be a guide on how to implement simple non-garbage collected programs.
    - snaky 8y ago