Software languages are overwhelmingly dominated by C (57 percent) and C++ (29 percent), with options such as Java, UML, and LabView mentioned by less than 5 percent of respondents. Software code re-use from previous projects was reported in 89 percent of all designs. Some 78 percent report no interest in using ESL tools.

In operating systems, commercial OS's are moving down slowly as compared to custom OS's, and embedded Linux also is trending down. Products from WindRiver and Microsoft dominate engineers' interests. Some 70 percent of designs use operating systems.

Engineers' greatest concerns for future projects center on debugging tools and software integration, yet their most important development tools are compilers and debuggers. They listed semiconductor technology as the greatest change to the design process in the past 20 years.

The full report provides details on respondents' choices of semiconductors and commercial software. Freescale dominates in the overall processor category, Texas Instruments in the DSP category, Microchip Technology in the 8- and 16-bit MCU category, and Intel in 32-bit categories. For the first time in four years, more respondents indicate they will try to avoid FPGAs (48 percent) than use them (52 percent), with the cost and power-dissipation of FPGAs listed as the two biggest negatives.

ESD Editorial Director Rich Nass will provide a comprehensive overview of the report in an upcoming print edition of Electronic Systems Design, and online at www.embedded.com. The full report will be offered for sale later this year at EE Times Market Intelligence Unit and Semiconductor Insights.