Selecting unit testing framework for embedded microcontroller development

Abstract: In this study, the absence of enough usage of the agile methodology Test-driven development among embedded developers was highlighted, and a solution for getting more developers to start using that methodology was researched into. The research revolved around making the practice of unit testing, which is a large part of the test-driven development methodology, more available to developers by lowering the knowledge threshold of which unit testing framework to choose and how they work. The area of embedded development was narrowed down to the usage of microcontrollers and the development of software for those in the programming language C. This study managed to firstly gather the general opinion of developers of which the most sought after criteria was that a unit testing framework for embedded development should support. With the help of those criteria, an extensive comparison could be done between some of the most popular and recommended unit testing frameworks for embedded microcontroller development. The observations that was made during the experiment were then used to take away some lessons learned that could form recommendations containing information about which unit testing framework that should be used depending on which preferences a developer could have.