Embedded Apprentice

Author: Doug G

  • The Buffer Pool, using linked lists

    Here is a handy way to manage buffers, using a singly linked list. It works for small embedded systems where there is no heap. With no heap, we don’t have malloc() and free() to get buffers. Also, we don’t want a performance penalty if we call malloc() when we need to get a buffer. So,…

  • First Lists

    The first parts of Chapter 5 from Mastering Algorithms in C is up on GitHub. Using Claude code made the exercise stupid easy. I typed the code from the book, being somewhat careful. I misses some typos, typed Lust not List, and elelment not even realizing. Claude caught the errors. It identified the code as…

  • A More Embedded AI Application

    Virtual Judge and the NoYesApp are cool. AI is real and obviously with some guidance and good vibes, you can build something pretty big. Still, it is not exactly what this blog is supposed to be about. We are embedded people, not web developers. We live off of C code and register bit banging. My…

  • The NoYesApp

    Here is one more web application for your amusement. NoYesApp That is a github link. The project has not been deployed to a web host. What is it and why? The README sums it up.  NoYes App is a directed-graph questionnaire application built with Django, HTMX, and PostgreSQL. Users navigate questionnaires node by node —…

  • Judge Me Virtually

    There are blog, Reddit, Hacker News and every other possible messaging system posts on coding with AI. I will spare you reading mine. In the interest of trying out the next big thing, I downloaded Claude, then Claude Code and tried it out. OK, fine.I found this article on your done list. I have lots…

  • Network Triangles, Part 2

    June 8, 2017 dougwithau Republished February 14, 2026 How does the switch know where to send your data? In part 1, I mentioned the Ethernet header. This is what it looks like. Destination MAC 6 bytes Source MAC 6 bytes Length 2 byte Data 46-1500 Bytes CRC 4 Bytes The statement was made that a switch only…

  • Why Triangles are bad for your Network

    June 8, 2017 dougwithau Republished February 14, 2026 You’re planning to work on the IoT, or doing a project with networks. Networks are awesome because they have emergent behavior. Let me tell you a story to show what I mean. This involves network infrastructure at the lowest, simplest layer. You’ll need to understand the situation. I…

  • Marketecture comes after Product Market Fit

    Originally published March 3, 2018 Republished September 10, 2024 “If you think good architecture is expensive, try bad architecture” – Brian Foote – and Joseph Yoder In a blog post I read recently, they referred to product market fit. Then in a podcast that I don’t remember they mentioned the idea of marketecture. The problem that struck…

  • Dystopia and fear of AI

    A book review of Scary Smart by Mo Gawdat, with thoughts on AI and dystopia.

  • Clearing up TaskTurner questions

    Originally published May 8, 2017 Republished June 20, 2024 Last of this series The code on GitHub Post 1 Role your own Operating System, Post 2, TaskTurner First Code, Post 3, The Basic Code is Working, Post 4, Building Tasks, Post 5, Lowering System Power and Timers. Inter Process Communications I was going to write all about it. Then Collin Walls posted a…