Re: [ECOS] Training on eCos

[Andrew Lunn <andrew at lunn dot ch>]

On Sat, Feb 10, 2007 at 06:01:22AM -0800, Harsha wrote:
> Hi guys,
> 
> This is regarding how much of eCos(ARM platform) should i teach new
> members of my team.
> I have studied eCos on my own and have no idea as to how much is enough
> to make them comfortable.  
> 
> IS the following enough for making them work comfortably on eCos all by
> themselves
> 
> (1) Some basics of ARM architecture.
> (2) Brushing up some of basic booting and OS concepts.
> (3) Teaching them how to compile, run and debug the program on the
> board.
> (4) Help them in programming UART, VIC (RTC) and also the memory mapping
> required for eCos.
> (5) Make them able to build redboot and run  
> (6) Making them build a dummy eCos image to get familiar with the
> configurator tool.
> (6) Give them a copy of latest eCos document + "Embedded development
> with eCos" Massa's book.

I guess it depends on what you want them able to do. Do they need to
be able to port eCos, or just develop applications on top of an
existing port?

It could be that you do all the porting work, provide a fully
configured work/install tree, redboot, etc. Then all you need to teach
them is how to compile application code, download and debug, and what
the standard APIs are, look at the test programs as examples. They
have no need to understand the USART, RTC, MMU etc, or even that it is
an ARM. All this is abstracted away by eCos.

However if you expect them to be able to port eCos then you need to
provide much more information about the HAL, look at the HAL porting
guide, teach them how device drivers look, introduce the data sheet
and errata for the particular processor you are using, look at the
development board documentation and schematics. Maybe go over the
basics of how FLASH works, look at the standard test cases and how you
can run them to verify a port, etc.

And not to be forgotten is open source concepts, licencing issues, how
to find answers to FAQ using archives and how to ask good questions on
mailing lists.

So i would first say, decide what the developers will be doing with
eCos, using it or porting it, then decide what is important to teach
them.

      Andrew

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