March 14, 2012 -- Software development is all the rage these days. Do you have a great idea for the next must-have app? Millions of downloads of apps for phones and tablets on various operating systems (OSs) make software a hot market. As a result, tools for application and embedded software development are in high demand, and industries such as electronic design automation (EDA) are following all the attention software is getting with interest. In addition, EDA's traditional main customer base, the semiconductor vendors, are trying to adapt to new challenges posed by their customers — the system houses — which eventually serve you and me, the consumers.

Over the last decade, a set of platforms that enable software development has emerged at the interface between EDA and embedded software development. Today, a design team has various options for how to develop software for the next cool gadget. But before we jump into the differences, let's understand a bit more about what types of software can be found in today's devices and what a typical development flow looks like.

By Frank Schirrmeister. (Schirrmeister is Senior Director at Cadence Design Systems, Inc.)