I’m currently developing embedded applications using Silicon Labs microcontrollers (e.g., EFR32 series) and primarily working with C/C++ and the Simplicity Studio SDK. I’m interested in exploring Embedded Swift for future projects, but I have a few questions before committing to a migration:
-
Toolchain & SDK support: What is the current state of Embedded Swift support for Silicon Labs devices? Are there any official or community-maintained toolchains, board support packages, or examples available? Does Embedded Swift work out-of-the-box with the existing Silicon Labs SDK and peripheral drivers, or would I need to write custom bindings?
-
Migration cost: How large is the effort to port an existing C-based project to Embedded Swift? I’m particularly concerned about:
-
Rewriting hardware abstraction layers and driver code.
-
Integrating with existing middleware and libraries (like Micrium OS, Bluetooth stacks, etc.).
-
Learning curve for developers familiar with C but not Swift.
-
Impact on code size, memory usage, and real-time performance compared to C.
-
-
Development workflow: Can Embedded Swift be used with common IDEs like Simplicity Studio or VS Code? What about debugging and profiling? Is there support for on-device debugging via J-Link or similar?
-
Community & resources: Are there any success stories or known projects using Embedded Swift on ARM Cortex-M platforms (especially Silicon Labs) that I could look at for guidance?
Any insights, experiences, or pointers to documentation would be greatly appreciated. I’m trying to assess whether adopting Embedded Swift is practical for production use on our current hardware.
Thank you!