1. pragma Directives: The MetaWare C++ Compiler supports a set of pragma directives that allow fine-grained control over the compilation process. Some of the commonly used pragma directives include:
   • pragma once: This directive ensures that a header file is included only once during compilation, preventing multiple inclusion errors.
   • pragma align: This directive allows specifying the alignment requirements for data structures, ensuring proper memory alignment and improving performance on some architectures.
   • pragma inline: This directive hints the compiler to inline a specific function, which can improve code execution speed by avoiding function call overhead.

2. Fixed-point arithmetic support: The MetaWare C++ Compiler provides support for fixed-point arithmetic through its specific extensions. Fixed-point arithmetic is particularly useful in embedded systems where floating-point operations may be expensive or unavailable. To enable fixed-point support, the compiler provides types and functions for fixed-point calculations, allowing developers to perform efficient and accurate numerical computations.

3. __packed attribute: The __packed attribute can be used to specify that a structure or union should be packed tightly, without any padding between members. This is particularly useful when interfacing with external devices or memory-mapped registers, where the memory layout must match a specific hardware configuration.

4. __noinline attribute: The __noinline attribute can be applied to a function declaration, instructing the compiler not to inline that particular function. This can be useful in scenarios where function size is a concern, or when debugging optimized code.

5. __attribute__ extension: The MetaWare C++ Compiler supports the use of the __attribute__ extension, which allows specifying additional attributes for types, variables, or functions. This extension provides flexibility in controlling various aspects of code generation, such as alignment, memory attributes, and function attributes.

By leveraging these MetaWare C++ Compiler-specific extensions, developers can optimize their embedded applications to run more efficiently and take full advantage of the target hardware’s capabilities. However, it’s important to note that these extensions are compiler-specific and may not be portable across different compilers or platforms.

#embedded #cppcompilerextensions