Part Number: MSP430F5529
Tool/software: Code Composer Studio
Hello,
a rather simple question, as I am struggling with the decision to wheather use global variables and the stack or to make use of dynamic memory allocation and the heap.
I did never have to use dynamic allocation, in my opinion it does not help in the case of the smaller MSP430 microcontrollers, since I know all the memory to use an the way to use it, what benefits would it bring to use dynamic allocation?
I was triggered to this question because I had some stack overflows, now in my case or most cases the stack will overlap into the heap region of the RAM, but since I am not using the heap my code simply does not care , well of course until the stack overflow is so dramatic that it will reach into more severe areays of the code model to cause havoc.
I did play around with some system:pre_init code and stumbled upon the fact that the heap is only initialized if it is used, which is of course pretty sensible.
But as soon as I use a malloc or in my case the printf for console printing ( which uses malloc internally ) the heap = .sysmem is initialized once built.
The stack is growing from the upper side of the RAM area and the heap is supposed to grow from the other side. Beneath the heap are all the global variables and the static variables, which brings me to another question:
what is the difference between a static variable and a global variable in the case of a small microcontroller. For me right now they both do look pretty much the same in the memory view, they are located in the same positions and probably act the same way all over the code, global is forever, but static does seem the same way, is that correct?
Most comments about the memory allocation and stuff like static and global do write about way bigger systems than the MSP430 microcontrollers, maybe in the bigger context there is more reaosning behind this, but in cases of small all known systems, maybe it the best solution to simply be aware of all memory needs and design a porject with lots of global variables, no?
This is a rater confusing post, so thanks for sticking with me and maybe for your point of views about this interesting field.
Best wishes.
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