A Continuation based Programming Language for Embedded Systems

Embedded Systems Shinji Kono E-Mail: [email protected] Information Engineering, University of the Ryukyus, PRESTO, Japan Science and Technology Corporation Abstract To solve the gap between hardware and software, continuation based languages are introduced. C with Continuation is a super set of C, which supports light weight continuation. C based Continuation is a subset of C which has no function call. Using light weight continucation, state machine and stack machines are programmed in uniform. 1 Gap between Programming Language and System Description Today, we have to develop various kind of things from very small one to very big one. Big or small, the systems require complex functions such as complex user interface or i-mode interface in mobile phones. These systems are combination of hardware description of ASIC and software ( assembler or C ). Some system features new CPU or modified CPU. It requires assembly language level descriptions or a new compiler. These modifications are of course system dependent. On the other hands, the state of the art of programming languages such as C++ or Java are Object oriented and featuring complex semantics such as message passing with inheritance and protection. These features are useful for dynamic systems. But embedded system are usually used in stable environment. Even in large systems, most computations are routine works or predicted events. Less than 0.1In this situation, object oriented computation does not work well. The situation is this. Both hardware and software become complex towards different directions. (fig.1)