What does "embedded firmware" really mean?

I recently was contacted by a headhunter about a job working on "embedded firmware". Since I've begun to notice this term can imply many things, I tried to ask whether it was an area that really interested me, whether the work would involve developing device drivers. The headhunter was stupefied, asking whether that was some sort of application, but I was able to sync up with him again when he mentioned "C and assembly".

Reply to
BubbaGump
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It comes from decades ago when EPROMs were used for embedded software. The EPROMs had to be removed from the boards for erasing and reprogramming. The medium containing the software wasn't "soft", nor was it "hard", but it was "firm". Hence firmware.

The term "embedded software" is more commonly used today although "embedded firmware" would cover flash and EEPROM devices. It is just a label which can be misused, so you are right in trying to get more specific info from the headhunter. He probably doesn't really know what the term actually means, he's just repeating a term he got from a human relations person or a manager, and they may or may not know the real meaning.

~Dave~

Reply to
Dave

What's funny is some headhunters besides lacking technical knowledge also have no common sense. A headhunter once described a job involving "gaming" and when I asked it was confirmed it involved video games. Of course what it actually meant was casinos and gambling. I guessed this based on a phrase I'd heard before, "Nevada Gaming Commission", and confirmed it on the company's web site.

I feel sorry for headhunters. Apparently society is so devoid of useful jobs that being a parasite with no physical or mental skills is a last resort, a side effect of a capitalist system that would rather people do illegitimate fake "work" than be paid to do nothing and leave other people alone.

Reply to
BubbaGump

One headhunter told me about a position requiring knowledge of USB 2.0 and made a point that the hiring manager was willing to accept someone who only knew USB 1.0 (or possibly 1.1). It would have been nice if one of them was smart enough to know that USB 1.1 and 2.0 are so similar that it's not worth even thinking about rejecting candidates over, that any good engineer would be able to learn the small differences and that that ability to learn and adapt is what they should really be targeting anyway, not specific background experience.

Reply to
BubbaGump

While the work might be similar in some respects to developing device drivers (low level hardware interaction), the programming environment could be very different - small 8 bit systems for example, with either no operating system or an unusual one. And there's a lot more to embedded work than just the device drivers (which are often trivially simple) - quite likely you would be writing the entirity of the software running on the device.

It seems to me like you are expecting the headhunter to recognize a connection that not only would require in-depth knowledge of the work, but very likely isn't even there.

Reply to
cs_posting

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If all Bubba can do is "develop device drivers" I would consider him unemployable, at least in this field. He also appears to have a peculiar outlook.

--
Chuck F (cbfalconer at maineline dot net)
   Available for consulting/temporary embedded and systems.
Reply to
CBFalconer

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