In Chapter 6, Testing OS-Based Applications, we looked at debugging applications using Valgrind and similar tools, as well as GDB and kin. With the OS-based integration tests for MCU-based projects, such as those demonstrated in the Example – ESP8266 integration test section, we can use the exact same techniques, profiling and debugging the code without concerning ourselves just yet with the fact that the same code will be running on a much slower and more limited platform during final integration testing on real hardware.
The real challenge comes during that final integration stage, when the firmware—which we have been debugging on our fast desktop system using Valgrind and other highly capable tools—is now running on a paltry 16 MHz ATmega MCU without the ability to quickly launch the code with a Valgrind tool or within a GDB session.
As one will inevitably encounter bugs and issues during this stage, we need to be prepared to deal with this situation. Often,...