C and C++
Development Services
ZingZee writes C and C++ where software meets hardware: device firmware, controllers on a factory floor and real-time loops that must answer within a fixed number of microseconds. The same discipline applies to existing C++ codebases, which are brought under tests and static analysis before a line is changed.
What C and C++ are
ZingZee's C and C++ development services cover the software that runs where a platform meets a physical device: firmware on a microcontroller, a driver for a scanner or a sensor, and a control loop that must answer within a fixed number of microseconds. C and C++ address the hardware directly, with no runtime between the code and the chip, and they are the languages in which decades of device libraries and vendor kits are written. For a business owner, this layer matters when a meter, a scanner, a gateway, or a controller must report into the same Postgres database and dashboards as the rest of the platform, and ZingZee treats the device as part of that one system.
What we do with C/C++
C and C++ are used at ZingZee for the layer where a platform touches a physical device: firmware on a microcontroller, a driver for a scanner or a sensor, or a control loop with a hard deadline. This work sits under the AI and automation services that wire models into machines, and it is written by engineers who treat a device as part of the same system as the Postgres database it reports to.
Every C and C++ codebase ZingZee ships is built with warnings as errors, checked by static analysis and sanitisers on every commit, and tested on the target hardware as well as on the build machine. Memory ownership is stated in the code and reviewed, and the parts that can be written in Rust or Go instead are moved there when the assessment shows the hardware allows it.
Existing C++ estates are taken on as they are. A strategic assessment records the compiler and standard in use, the build system, the test coverage and the undefined behaviour the sanitisers find, and the roadmap fixes the order in which the codebase is modernised. C and C++ are not proposed for web, mobile or business software, where a higher-level language delivers the same result at lower cost.
Why C/C++
Direct control of hardware
Registers, interrupts and memory layout are addressable from the code, which is the only way to run on a microcontroller or write a driver.
Deterministic timing
With no garbage collector and no runtime, a control loop answers within the same bound on every cycle, which hard real-time systems require.
Portability across targets
The same source builds for an embedded target, a Linux gateway and a desktop test build, so logic is tested off the device before it runs on it.
The existing estate
Decades of libraries, drivers and vendor SDKs are written in C and C++, and a new device usually starts from one of them.
Discipline applied
Sanitisers, static analysis and warnings as errors on every build remove the classes of fault that made C and C++ a liability.
C and C++ close to the metal, tested properly
Use cases
Device firmware
Software on microcontrollers in meters, scanners, sensors and controllers that report to a platform over a network.
Drivers and hardware interfaces
Code that talks to a camera, a scale, a barcode scanner or an inverter and exposes it to the rest of the system.
Hard real-time control
Loops that read sensors and drive motors or relays within fixed deadlines on a factory line or in a vehicle.
Edge processing
Computer vision or signal processing on a gateway beside the machine, where bandwidth or latency rules out the cloud.
Modernising legacy C++
Existing codebases brought onto a current standard, under tests and static analysis, without a rewrite.
When C and C++ are the right choice
C and C++ are the right choice for firmware on a microcontroller in a meter, a scanner, a sensor, or a controller, where registers, interrupts, and memory layout must be addressed from the code. They are the right choice for a control loop on a factory line or in a vehicle that must answer within the same bound on every cycle, since there is no garbage collector to pause it. They suit a driver for a camera, a scale, a barcode scanner, or an inverter that exposes the device to the rest of the system, and edge processing on a gateway beside a machine where bandwidth or latency rules out the cloud. They also suit an existing C++ codebase that must be extended, because the vendor kit and the toolchain are already in place.
When C and C++ are the wrong choice
C and C++ are the wrong choice for a web, mobile, or business application, where Python, Node, and Next.js deliver the same result at lower cost with fewer classes of fault. They are the wrong choice for a new component where the toolchain supports Rust and the code is written from scratch, since Rust gives the same speed with memory safety checked at build time. They are the wrong answer to a device problem that sits in the platform above it, such as a gateway that reports correctly into a database that cannot keep up. ZingZee's assessment reads the hardware, the timing, and the platform before any of these cases is decided.
C and C++ development services ZingZee provides
Device firmware
ZingZee writes firmware for microcontrollers in meters, scanners, sensors, and controllers that report to a platform over a network, built with warnings as errors and tested on the target hardware as well as on the build machine.
Drivers and hardware interfaces
Code that talks to a camera, a scale, a barcode scanner, or an inverter and exposes it to the rest of the system through a defined interface, so the platform above reads one record per device.
Hard real-time control
Loops that read sensors and drive motors or relays within fixed deadlines on a factory line or in a vehicle, with timing measured on a hardware-in-the-loop rig before release.
Edge processing beside the machine
Computer vision and signal processing on a gateway next to the equipment, where bandwidth or latency rules out the cloud, with results written to the platform database.
Modernisation of existing C++ codebases
Existing estates are brought onto a current standard, under tests, static analysis, and sanitisers, in an order fixed by the roadmap, with the parts that can move to Rust or Go moved where the hardware allows.
C and C++ development scope
- Deliverables
- The firmware, driver, or gateway software in the client's repository, with the CMake build for each target, signed and versioned releases, and a record of what each device in the fleet runs.
- Included as standard
- Unit tests on the build machine, sanitisers and static analysis on every commit, hardware-in-the-loop tests on the rig, a release pipeline, a runbook per target, and a recorded handover.
- Priced separately
- A test rig where none exists, additional device types after the first, the platform the devices report into, and modernisation beyond the audited codebase are scoped and quoted separately.
- What the client provides
- The target hardware and vendor kits, the timing requirements, the existing code and its history, access to the devices in the field, and an engineer who signs off each release.
- Outside the engagement
- Hardware purchase, vendor toolchain licences, real-time operating system fees, and certification bodies are the client's. ZingZee specifies each one and builds within the licensed toolchain.
How a device project with ZingZee runs
A device project with ZingZee runs through the five-phase delivery framework. The strategic assessment records the hardware, the timing it must meet, the vendor kit, and the platform above it, and for an existing codebase the compiler, the standard, the build system, the test coverage, and the undefined behaviour the sanitisers find. The AI roadmap fixes the boundary between firmware and platform and the order of modernisation. Integration and deployment builds and tests on the target hardware with a test rig and takes each release onto the installed fleet. Adoption and enablement trains the engineers who will maintain the code. Governance, optimisation and scale keeps the fleet's firmware versions, fault rates, and timing under review. Each phase opens with a scoping workshop and closes with a hardening workshop, where the build is tested on the rig, and a delivery workshop, where the client's engineers sign it off.
- Strategic assessment
- AI roadmap
- Integration and deployment
- Adoption and enablement
- Governance, optimisation and scale
Cost and time
for embedded work.
The cost of embedded work depends on the hardware and its vendor kit, the timing the software must meet, the number of device types, the state of any existing code, and whether a test rig must be built. A driver for one device that reports into an existing platform is a matter of weeks. Firmware for a new controller with a real-time loop, a gateway, and a fleet update path is a matter of months and is delivered target by target. Modernisation of an existing C++ estate is priced after the audit, because the undefined behaviour the sanitisers find drives the effort. ZingZee provides a written estimate after the strategic assessment and phases the budget to the client's priorities.
Industries where ZingZee applies C and C++
ZingZee applies C and C++ development services where software meets hardware: in energy, where inverters, meters, and monitoring devices report readings into a customer platform; in retail and distribution, where scanners, scales, and label printers on a warehouse floor feed a stock system; in manufacturing, where control loops drive a line within fixed deadlines and a gateway processes vision beside the machine; and in automotive and transport, where controllers and telematics units run under hard timing.
C and C++ tooling
ZingZee's C and C++ work uses one set of tools on every project, so a client who reads about firmware can expect the same discipline on a driver. The tooling covers:
- GCC and Clang on a current C and C++ standard, with warnings as errors on every build
- CMake for builds that target the device, a Linux gateway, and a desktop test build from one source
- Static analysis and address, thread, and undefined-behaviour sanitisers on every commit
- Unit tests on the build machine and a hardware-in-the-loop rig that drives the real inputs
- Vendor kits and real-time operating systems as the target hardware dictates
- A release pipeline that signs and versions firmware and records what each device in the fleet runs
C and C++ engineering practices
Every C and C++ codebase ZingZee ships is built with warnings as errors, checked by static analysis and sanitisers on every commit, and tested on the target hardware as well as on the build machine. Memory ownership is stated in the code and reviewed. The same source builds for the device, a Linux gateway, and a desktop test build, so logic is tested off the device before it runs on it. Timing is measured on a hardware-in-the-loop rig that drives the real inputs, and a release is signed, versioned, and recorded per device in the fleet. The parts that can be written in Rust or Go are moved there when the hardware allows. At handover the client receives the repository with tests, the build definitions, the rig configuration, and a runbook for release, rollback, and fleet updates.
What happens next?
You describe the hardware, the timing it must meet, and the platform it reports to.
An engineer reads it and replies within two working days with the shape of a strategic assessment.
You sign a non-disclosure agreement if you need one, and you receive a proposal with the phases, the estimate, and the team.
Frequently asked questions
Straight answers on C/C++ work with ZingZee.