Traditionally, resource-constrained and hard real-time applications have been developed with C and C++ programming languages.

However, as system and software complexity increase, C and C++ have driven up the cost of development with problematic behaviors.

Java on the other hand, has already displaced C/C++ as the most popular programming approach for desktop, enterprise, and mobile applications.

Previously, the use of Java for embedded applications has been limited to those applications with loose memory and timing constraints – that’s because Java has not been suitable for applications with severely constrained timing and memory restrictions.

Fortunately, new technology is now allowing Java developers to cross that bridge, addressing the entire range of embedded systems.

We interview Kelvin Nilsen to gain insight into Java for Hard Real-Time Systems.

Kelvin is Aonix's CTO.