Cover Story

Support Multiple Languages
by Nigel Jones
Products destined for use in multiple countries often require user interfaces that support several human languages. Sloppy string management in your programs could result in unintelligible babble.


Features

Object-Oriented C: Creating Foundation Classes Part 1
by Matthew Curreri
Transforming a structured language into an object-oriented language may cause some pain at first. However, the benefits of rapid behavioral changes far exceed any early discomfort. Part 1 of 2.

Context Switch
by David Kalinsky
From the humble infinite loop to the priority-based preemptive RTOS and beyond, scheduling options are everywhere to be found. This article offers a survey and comparison.

News Analysis

VLIW Architecture Emerges as Embedded Alternative
by Alexander Wolfe
Savvy chip architects are seeking alternatives to apply to well-worn superscalar designs. The reason: superscalar processors have become unwieldy, bursting with pipelines and caches aimed at boosting performance. Enter very long instruction word (VLIW) architectures-a blast from the past that has gained new-found popularity recently.

Murphy's Law Parlez-vous Français? by Niall Murphy Most of us don't speak very many human languages. But sometimes the software we write needs to. Usability for Graphical User Interfaces by Niall Murphy Adding a graphical display to your product may allow you to add more features in a smaller space, but it also raises usability issues. Internet Device Interaction Control by Larry Mittag Internet appliances demand new dynamic network capabilities for ad hoc resource sharing and communication. HAVi, Jini, and Universal Plug and Play are possible solutions.

Columns

#include
New Faces
by Michael Barr

Programmer's Toolbox
It's Not Over
by Jack W. Crenshaw
The fat lady hasn't sung yet, but she's warming up backstage. This month, Jack unveils part of his long-awaited minimizer.

Programming Pointers
References and const
by Dan Saks
Just as you can use the const qualifier in pointer declarations, you can also use it in reference declarations-with one notable exception..

Spectra
Quadrature Encoded Position and Beyond
by Don Morgan
A wrap up of techniques for determining angular position is required before the discussion turns to sensorless control.

Break Points
Schedule Madness
by Jack G. Ganssle
Some day the boss will die, be promoted, or quit. Between now and then, you'll need to find a better way to do scheduling.

New Products