advantages disadvantages software configuration management

ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES SOFTWARE CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT DRIVER
ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES SOFTWARE CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT CODE

Second, C-based configuration files are easy to set up and maintain.Ī more modern approach is to leverage configuration files in YAML, JSON, and/or XML format.

ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES SOFTWARE CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT DRIVER

These configuration values are passed into the various application, middleware, and driver initialization functions. First, developers can just create C module configurations that hold the product configuration information. There are two ways configuration files can be leveraged. Instead of using conditional compilation, developers can leverage configuration files. As one can imagine, this becomes a maintenance and configuration nightmare.

ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES SOFTWARE CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT CODE

If the product is simple, then having a few conditional compilations scattered throughout the code is not a big deal however, today's systems are pretty complex and can have thousands of these statements scattered throughout. #error 'The Product SKU has not been defined!'

For example, if I have two different systems and one has two relays that can be controlled, and the other has four, developers will write C code like: In many embedded products, developers will use conditional compilation statements to manage the configuration of their systems. Related: Data Integrity Critical to Embedded Systems Tip #2 – Leverage YAML, JSON, and XML files For example, during the chip shortage, many teams have struggled to switch microcontrollers because they tightly couple their application to their hardware. For example, separating drivers, middleware, and the application into separate repos can force developers to think more about the code's interfaces and abstractions, which will help minimize coupling between layers. There can also be advantages to placing each layer of the application into different repositories as well. The advantage to this is that if configuration changes are needed for a SKU or a specific customer, it doesn't force changes to the application that could accidentally propagate to other systems.Ĭonfiguration is not the only component that can benefit from being placed in a separate repo. At a minimum, this creates the core product code and several configuration repos that manage how the core application will behave. Therefore, teams can carefully examine their product's design and place all configuration code into a separate repository. In many cases, a products code will be used across multiple product SKUs and, for a decade or more, may find different configurations to meet customer requirements. Related: Utilizing CI/CD Processes for Embedded Systems

Advantages disadvantages software configuration management