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by 5d41402abc4b 158 days ago
>it finally feels like embedded is getting a toolchain that is actually modern and better

Last time i tried embassy, it pulled over 100 dependencies just to build a blinky. Its great for hobbyist programming but i doubt its going to be used in any industrial application any time soon.
3 comments
kolektiv 158 days ago
In all seriousness, why is that a problem? Surely for embedded, the size and hardware usage of the resultant binary is what matters, not the size/number of tools used to build it? I get that a lot of people worry about supply chain attacks right now (and that's fine, everyone should be thinking about how to mitigate that problem/reduce it) - but going back to a world where code re-use is significantly less usable isn't likely to magically make everything better, that has trade-offs too - particularly if (as plenty of people clearly do) they want a modern dev experience for embedded hardware.
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5d41402abc4b 158 days ago
>why is that a problem

Supply chain attacks. There are also regulatory requirements to keep track of your tools.

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sp0ck 158 days ago
It's already in use at least it automotive. If you are not working with safety critical systems (ADAS type) Rust and to some extent embassy is already in the wild. Companies like ETAS (https://www.etas.com/ww/en/) or Ferrous (https://ferrous-systems.com) are working to certify Rust and some crates (embassy is there) to be used with safety critical components. It's not question if but when it will be used. Volvo, Renault and some Chinese brands already ship cars with Rust embedded components in non safety critical path.
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fried-gluttony 158 days ago
Do you have any (soft) evidences, that actually embassy is used in safety-critical applications? I think that is quite more difficult to qualify the whole of embassy with the HAL, executor and the other components used. Ferrous is just the qualified toolchain incl. core std. and some other libraries. Additionally a question is how well it integrates e.g. with ARM self-test libraries for the platform safety.

I know that sonair [0] is actually using Rust in the safety critical path. Toyota Woven [1] is for now just using it in infotainment and non-safety applications.

I am closely monitoring the space, as I am currently evaluating to use Rust and potentially embassy for a safety-critical embedded product myself. I hope to this way also contribute to safety-critical Rust usage. If anyone has further information or just wants to exchange ideas, I'd be super happy to! [0] https://www.sonair.com/journal/leading-the-way-for-safety-ce... [1] https://filtra.io/rust/interviews/woven-by-toyota-nov-25

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DetroitThrow 158 days ago
A handful of companies participated in this. It seems they all are working already with it or working towards it: https://rustfoundation.org/media/announcing-the-safety-criti...
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rcxdude 158 days ago
A lot of those dependencies are from the same project, though. It's just split into multiple crate so you don't need to pull in one mega-lump of code for everything.

(Also, I am currently using it for an industrial application)

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