In general, an embedded device development project involves the following:

·         Hardware

·         Firmware, BIOS, bootloader and device driver to support the selected hardware

·         Customized operating system image for the selected hardware

·         Application that make the device function as intended

While hardware, device driver and low-level system resources are not key focuses for application developer, to be effective, it's essential for an embedded application developer to understand and know how to access hardware resources through device driver and know how to write function call to access low-level system resources.

In the Windows client OS for desktop and notebook PC environment, since all desktop and notebook PCs are designed and built around a set of common specifications adhered by all hardware vendors, an application written for the Window client OS is able to run on all desktop and notebook PCs available in the market that meet the minimum OS, memory and storage requirements, regardless of the manufacturer.

Unlike the desktop and notebook PC, many embedded devices are built around proprietary design; each has their own unique hardware architecture and peripherals.

Different from the Windows client OS environment, an embedded application written for embedded device is designed specifically for the targeted device or family of device and will not run on a different type of device.

The embedded development environment demands the developer to be more resourceful and skillful to accomplish their objectives in the least amount of time and cost.

For most embedded developers, their skill and knowledge are learned and cumulated over times, from the experience working on different projects and different type of devices.   

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