IAR Embedded Workbench for AVR

• New linker
  A new AVR-specific linker is introduced with this release. It is based on the previous (generic) XLINK linker, but the new version can automatically select runtime libraries based on the object file attributes. 

• Support for the C18 and C++17 language standards
  The compiler and libraries add support for the language standards known as C18 and C++17. 

• Additional GNU C language extensions
  In extended language mode, the IAR C/C++ Compiler supports a number of new GCC-style operators, attributes, and expressions. See the compiler release notes for details.

• Unicode support
  The Unicode standard for consistent encoding, representation, and handling of text is now supported. This means that you can use Unicode characters (alphabetic, numeric, symbols, emoji, etc) in the source code.

• Editor and IDE enhancements

  • Editor themes - a new way to set up the colors and fonts in the text editor
  • Syntax feedback - instant syntax suggestions while typing
  • Improved parameter hints
  • Window color themes - dark mode
  • Gray out inactive code support

   

• Iarbuild enhancements
  The iarbuild command line build utility now supports:

  • Generating a Ninja build file based on the IAR Embedded Workbench project format
  • Generating a JSON description of the Embedded Workbench project
  • More C-STAT reporting and configuration methods

   

• 64-bit Windows application
  IAR Embedded Workbench now runs as a 64-bit Windows application.

• Visual Studio Code support
  The IAR Build and IAR C-SPY Debug extensions available on Microsoft Marketplace enable you to work in Visual Studio Code (with IAR Embedded Workbench installed) to:

  • Build IAR Embedded Workbench projects
  • Run the C-STAT static analysis tool
  • Debug applications using the same range of hardware/debug probes as in IAR Embedded Workbench.

   

• C-STAT enhancements

  • MISRA C:2012 Amendment 1
    The static analysis tool C-STAT has extended its coverage of the MISRA C:2012 Coding Standard and now fully supports MISRA C:2012 Amendment 1. This amendment adds 14 additional rules to MISRA C:2012 with a focus on security concerns highlighted by the ISO C Secure Guidelines. Several of these address specific issues pertaining to the use of untrustworthy data, a well-known security vulnerability.

  • Improved performance
    Depending on the project, the analysis can be up to 40% faster and memory consumption reduced by up to 20%, compared to the previous version of C-STAT.

   

• Updated device support
  The device support files have been updated to the most recent version from Microchip.

• Updated user documentation
  The user documentation has been updated to reflect the product changes.

Improved Source Browser

The following improvements have been made to the Source Browser: 
- The source browser data is generated faster as it is now running as a separate thread
- New Source Browser Log window
- Status indicator in the status bar
- Enhanced feedback in case source browsing data cannot be generated

Support for new devices

Support for ATtiny1624, ATtiny1626, and ATtiny1627 has been added.

• IDE Project Management and Building Guide
• C-SPY® Debugging Guide
• IAR C/C++ Compiler Reference Guide
• IAR Assembler Reference Guide
• IAR Embedded Workbench IDE Migration Guide v4
• IAR Embedded Workbench IDE Migration Guide v6
• IAR Linker and Library Tools Reference Guide
• IAR Embedded Workbench® MISRA C:1998 Reference Guide
• IAR Embedded Workbench® MISRA C:2004 Reference Guide

The IAR C/C++ compilers offer different dialects of the C and C++ programming languages, as well as different extensions specific for embedded programming (please note that not all language standards are supported for all target implementations). The compiler can be instructed to disable extensions for strict conformance to the standards. 

A wide range of industry-standard debug and image formats compatible with most popular debuggers and emulators are supported. This includes ELF/DWARF where applicable.

ISO/ANSI C/C++ Compliance

The IAR C/C++ compilers adhere to a freestanding implementation of the following C programming language standards:

• INCITS/ISO/IEC 9899:2018, known as C18 (Latest version only).
• The compiler supports all C++17 features. The C++ library supports C++14 with no C++17 additions.  (Latest version only).
• ISO/IEC 14882:2015, known as C++14
• INCITS/ISO/IEC 9899:2012, known as C11
• ANSI X3.159-1989, known as C89

The ISO/ANSI C/C++ Compliance level varies between the different compilers. For complete information, please refer to the IAR C/C++ Compiler user documentation in your chosen product.

IEEE 754 standard

IAR Embedded Workbench supports the IEEE 754 standard for floating-point arithmetic.

MISRA C

MISRA C is a software development standard for the C programming language developed by MISRA, The Motor Industry Software Reliability Association. Its aims are to facilitate code safety, portability and reliability in the context of embedded systems, specifically those systems programmed in ISO C.

The first edition of the MISRA C standard, "Guidelines for the use of the C language in vehicle based software", was produced in 1998. In 2004, a second edition was produced with many substantial changes to the guidelines, including a complete renumbering of the rules. Additionally MISRA C:2012 with extended support and MISRA C++:2008 for identifying unsafe code constructs in the C++ standard have also been added to the standards.

IAR Embedded Workbench features an add-on product C-STAT so you can check compliance with rules as defined by MISRA C:2004, MISRA C++:2008 and MISRA C:2012.

Test validation

We use the following commercial test suites to test conformance of our tools to the standards:

• Plum Hall Validation test suite for ISO/IEC C conformance
• Perennial EC++ Validation Suite for C++ conformance
• Dinkum C++ Proofer to test how our libraries conform to the C and C++ standard as well as test our STL implementation against the C++ standard.

In addition to the commercial suites, we use several in-house test suites for testing new features, regression testing, corrected errors, etc.

C-SPY target system support

• Simulator
• AVR JTAGICE mkII
• AVR JTAGICE3
• AVR® ONE!
• AVR Dragon
• Atmel-ICE
• AVR Crypto Controller ROM-monitor for the Atmel Smart Card Development Board (SCDB) and the Voyager development system (optional add-ons, order separately)
• AVR Studio via compatible output format (full support for Atmel ICE via the Atmel debugger interface)

RTOS support

• OSEK Run Time Interface (ORTI) support included
• Micrium µC/OS-II Kernel Awareness Plugin included

Each RTOS plugin installs a number of new windows in C-SPY, most importantly the task or thread list windows where task-specific breakpoints can be specified and task-specific steps executed. Different inspector windows display the contents of the internal data structures of the RTOS such as timers, queues, semaphores, resources and mailboxes.