Embedded Glossary

Browse 16 embedded terms defined in plain English, from the cultural dictionary of computing.

16 Embedded Terms

Bootloader
A small program that runs first when a device powers on, responsible for initializing hardware and loading the main operating system or application firmware...
Cross-Compilation
Cross-Compilation is the process of building executable code on one platform (the host) that is intended to run on a different platform (the target), where the...
DuckDB
An in-process analytical database (like SQLite for analytics) that runs columnar queries directly on Parquet, CSV, and JSON files without loading them into a...
Embedded Linux
An Embedded Linux is a development concept used to shape how software is built, executed, or maintained in real systems. Developers rely on it to make code...
Embedded Rust
An Embedded Rust is a development concept used to shape how software is built, executed, or maintained in real systems. Developers rely on it to make code...
Embedded System
A dedicated computer system designed to perform a specific function within a larger mechanical or electrical system, typically with real-time constraints and...
Firmware
Firmware is specialized software programmed into hardware devices that provides low-level control for the device's specific hardware components. It sits...
FPGA
Field-Programmable Gate Array — an integrated circuit designed to be configured by the customer after manufacturing, containing an array of programmable logic...
GPIO
General-Purpose Input/Output — a digital signal pin on a microcontroller or SoC that can be programmatically configured as either an input or output at...
I2C
Inter-Integrated Circuit — a synchronous, multi-master, multi-slave serial communication bus that uses just two wires (SDA and SCL) to connect low-speed...
LanceDB
An open-source, embedded vector database built on the Lance columnar data format, designed for multimodal AI applications. LanceDB runs embedded in your...
Lua
A lightweight, embeddable scripting language designed for extending applications. Lua's tiny footprint and fast VM make it the dominant embedded scripting...
Real-Time System
A computing system in which correctness depends not only on producing the right result but on producing it within a guaranteed time bound (deadline). Hard...
Safety-Critical
Describing a system whose failure could result in loss of life, significant injury, or major environmental damage, requiring rigorous verification, formal...
SPI
Serial Peripheral Interface — a synchronous full-duplex serial bus using four wires (MOSI, MISO, SCLK, CS) that enables high-speed communication between a...
SQLite
A self-contained, serverless, zero-configuration relational database engine stored as a single file on disk. It is the most widely deployed database in the...

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