I'd like to start playing with ARM TrustZone, so I'd like to setup a development environment, unfortunatelly I have the feeling I'm still missing something, I don't know how to put everything together.
This is my current picture:
A SoC with a Cortex-A processor is required
is it possible to develop without a board? i.e. emulators?
TrustZone is a Hardware & Software technology
If I get a SoC board, is the hardware part already covered?
The software (OS/Kernel) part may be solved with GlobalPlatform, OpenTEE, etc.
TrustedApplications development
Which IDE's are there?
How are they deployed to the board?
I know this is a quite extensive question, I'll be happy to get links to online material.
Edit:
Some parts of my question were partially answered, but the most important thing hasn't been answered yet: is the picture I detailed correct and complete? Yes/no, why?
And no, this is not a duplicate of Which ARM based development boards should I use?
For emulator, you can use ARM Fast Model (https://developer.arm.com/products/system-design/fast-models) if you have the budget.
QEmu might have some Trustzone support but I am not sure how reliable is the Trustzone implementation (What works on QEmu might not work on real hardware). joakim-bech (one of the lead engineer working on an Open-Source implementation of Trusted OS) said in his stackoverflow response it should work; And he has still confirmed it in the blog post TEE Development With No Hardware - Is That Possible?...
I would recommand you to have a look at the list of platforms supported by Optee - Open Portable Trusted Execution Environment: https://github.com/OP-TEE/optee_os#3-platforms-supported
The answers to your other questions would really depend of the platform you use, your budget, your development environment, etc
For less than $150:
If you want to stick to Windows you might have to build qEmu yourself (qEmu seems to support Windows but I am not sure if the Windows already-built binaries support Trustzone). In term of HW board, I use the Hikey board (currently at $119) for my Trustzone development.
Using Linux for the development will probably save you some time as for this budget you will probably have to use Open-Source solutions that generally primarily support Linux.
To start developing a Trusted App for OP-TEE:
I used this presentation: https://www.slideshare.net/linaroorg/lcu14103-how-to-create-and-run-trusted-applications-on-optee
I updated/improved the original example code, my changes could be found here: https://github.com/oliviermartin/lcu14_optee_hello_world
I am thinking about buying an iPod touch and I Wonder if there is Java and c++ editor to install in the iPod, something like having netbeans in the IPod. I want this because I would like to advance in my home-works on my way college-home while I'm on the bus or waiting for someone, etc. Is there anything?
Don't even consider trying to write code on an iPod, or even an iPad.
iPod is the wrong type of device for any sort of development. There are some ergonomic factors which are really important when it comes to writing code:
You should have a decent keyboard - i-devices only have touch-screens. A laptop keyboard is OK but not great.
You need the screen at a reasonable height and angle if you're going to be looking at it for a long time. You need to be able to type with both hands at the same time.
You need as much screen space as you can get.
I could come up with a lot more reasons for not using an i-device for development, but I think they are too obvious to bother listing.
If you really want to do your homework on the bus, you are better off getting yourself a decent laptop.
The iTunes App Store restrictions explicitly prohibit any compilers or interpreters from running on approved iOS apps.
That said, you could make a simple Javascript interpreter in a webpage, and then save it for offline use, without much trouble.
For that matter, any language that's implemented in Javascript and can work in an offline webpage could be used. For example, if you had a compiler written in Javascript, which compiled C++ to Javascript, then you could use that to write C++ on your iPod. I do not know of any such compilers offhand, but there's no theoretical reason they couldn't exist, as the App Store restrictions don't apply to HTML pages you browse to yourself.
A far more practical solution would be to just get a text editor (of which the App Store has many). Write your code on the bus, and then compile it when you get home. It will still be faster than the compilers we had when I was a kid!
(Or just get an SRS and spend the time studying rather than programming, since you're not going to be very effective at programming on a small touchscreen device, anyway.)
There's always an option to jailbreak your device and install GCC toolchain: iphone-gcc in Cydia and instruction here. Netbook would be a much better option though.
You can do some basic HTML and Latex but no Java or C++.
But I found something that could be interesting:
Processing is quite like Java and can be programmed on this site, with every iDevice.
http://jepstone.net/HiperPad/editor.php/HiPad4d113f1595b4c#home
After reading this post and some derivative publications (ddotdash.com) I wonder whether it is possible to use a handheld as a main platform for development of web applications for mobile web browsers.
For web development I use a rather common set of tools: Cheap netbook, Ubuntu 9.10, Ruby on Rails, VIM, GIT. I think it is possible to use all of those on Nokia n900 due to the fact that it has Maemo OS on it which is based on Debian (all debs are possible to install and you can always compile problematic debs from source).
Nevertheless, I am concerned with 3 problems:
Display size. I have 1280x800 resolution on my netbook and it is convenient for me to have Terminator (multiple consoles), VIM, file browser, Firefox and some PDF books opened at the same time. I wonder if it would be possible to use all these apps on 800px horizontal resolution.
Computing power: Via Nano (or Atom) processor does not distinct dramatically from that on Nokia n900 (at least in MHz), however I wonder if 256+768(virtual) memory on Nokia will be enough for my work (I have 3 GB now on the netbook).
Keyboard. Frankly it is not a problem due to the fact that I have Nokia su-8w bluetooth keyboard that is comfortable enough for touch typing. However it is interesting to read some comments on this problem. [Edit]: Bluetooth keyboard is not so comfortable - a developer has to dispose a handheld on the keyboard and it is not easy to look at the small screen from such rather big distance (keyboard can be placed on a table or on the knees only).
Having solutions for the problems mentioned above, I will have an opportunity to exploit all the wonderful advantages of the mobile development platforms, such as:
work from anywhere (it is important for me);
develop for the same form-factor that is used by the developer and intended users both;
pocket-size working tool :)
It may well be possible - the question is how much energy you'll expend compensating for all the restrictions. It's like developing in Notepad: possible, but not a pleasant experience.
I develop a bit on my netbook too, and it's okay - but I wouldn't want to do it all day.
It's certainly quite cool to be able to develop on a handheld device, but I don't think it's really practical for significant amounts of code. If this is for your own personal pleasure and you think the benefits outweigh the costs, that's one thing - but I wouldn't do it for commercial apps.
I'd like to begin tinkering around with an RTS AI, but I'm having trouble finding a good environment to work with, ie a game that has been already created. I have looked at Spring RTS and Bos Wars, but they don't seem to be conducive to creating simple examples.
I am not totally opposed to writing my own game environment, it would just take a long time. Does anyone have a suggestion as to how I can get my feet wet without programming my own game?
There's actually a starcraft AI competition going on right now. The BWAPI ai api is very nice and should get you going very quickly. There are already many impressive entrants.
http://eis.ucsc.edu/StarCraftAICompetition
Edit :(, just realized how old this question is.
I can not say anything about the other projects, but i can speak for Spring RTS:
It supports a plugin system for AI Interfaces, and as of January 2011, comes with a Native (C/C++) and a JVM (Java, Groovy, JRuby, ...) AI Interface plugin. A Python plugin is quite mayor already, but not yet considered stable. There are lots of C++ AIs to be used as reference, while for Java, there is a small tutorial and a few AIs.
As the base of all the interfaces is the same (the engine), they are very similar in nature, so it is also possible to use C++ AIs as a reference when writing a Java AI and vice versa.
The AI development forum and the #ai channel on the lobby (also reachable through IRC) may be of use too.
The engine has already been used for at least 7 AIs developed during university thesis.
The engine its self is mostly written in C++, uses the CMake build system and compiles on Linux+GCC and Windows+MinGW (unofficially also on MSVC). You may want to follow the guide under Development - Compiling on the projects homepage, which explains how to compile the engine, and in turn also gets you the source code of the engine and a few AIs.
Check out ORTS, maintained by Michael Buro at the University of Alberta.
I haven't used it myself, but I've seen it in action since even before the first release in 2003, and it's definitely grown in leaps and bounds.
I'm pretty sure Strarcraft II will come with a very complete, programmable, editor (some people even transformed it into a FPS). It will be released on July the 2nd.
Supreme Commander is also moddable via Lua. There are several WWI - WWII strategy games also moddable via Lua.
On the Opensource front, glest and temulous have their source available; you might want to try modding them.
Finally, there's 0 A. D., which is also opensource, but on alpha.
My recommendation, however, is that you give a look at the Spring project.
If you have a few bucks, Garage Games has an RTS kit for its Torque game engine. http://www.garagegames.com/products/rts-genre-kit
This should allow you to begin writing some AI code immediately.
Once upon a time, a team of guys sat down and wrote an application in C, running on VMS on a VAX. It was a rather important undertaking and runs a reasonably important back-end operation at LargeCo. This whole shebang works so well that twenty-five years later it's still chugging along and doing it's thing.
Time passes and people retire and it so happens that the Last Man Standing has turned over the keys to a new generation who - we might imagine - are less than thrilled to find themselves caretakers of a system old enough to be their younger brother. Yet, as underwhelmed as they are by the idea of dealing with Ultra Legacy Systems, they can't justify the cost of replacing the venerable application.
LMS discovered that I habla unix and put this question to me. And since I habla unix but don't speak the C I shall summarize and put it to you. Long Story Short:
LMS wants to port LegacyApp, written in C. from VMS to unix. Resources? Any books he can read? People he can talk to?
The first question I'd need to ask is why, and I'd be leading the conversation in the direction of "Do you really need to port it off of VMS". There are a number of things worth mentioning about VMS:
-> VMS is still actively developed and maintained by HP. They just release V8.4 for Field Test last week (see http://h71000.www7.hp.com/openvmsft/).
-> VMS is available on new hardware; specifically HP's Integrity servers based on the Itanium processor.
-> VMS is also available on virtual platforms via the Charon Emulation products.
-> Popular estimates are that there are about 300,000 VMS systems still in active use today. LMS may be the last man at LargeCo, but he's far from the last man standing worldwide.
-> Lots of information out there, see openvms.org for example, to see lots of current information on VMS, all from current users.
OK - you still want to port off of VMS. How do you do it? Well, it depends on lots of stuff.
-> As others have said, how standard is the code? Chances are, not very. The more VMS-isms, the more difficult the job. 'nuff said.
-> What is the database? If it's Oracle, probably not too tough to move to Oracle on some other platform. If it's some sort of custom DB based on RMS index files, then you've got more work to do, you'll need to re-create that pseudo DB, or, understand it enough to replace it with some relational DB.
-> Besides C, what else is used to create the application? What's on the front end? DECforms? FMS? Is there a transaction engine, e.g. ACMS? RTR? These things will have a huge impact on the feasibility and effort required to port to UNIX.
-> What other products are involved? Are there any 3rd party libraries being used? Are there 3rd party products in use that are critical to the application or functionality?
-> Is this system clustered? If so why? You'll need to meet those same goals with the UNIX box.
-> There are companies out there that will help you do it, and claim to have tools to make it easier, but my experience is that these companies tend to be selling you more services than products (i.e. you need to hire them to use the tools. It'll be expensive).
The book UNIX for OpenVMS Users will give the VMS novice some help in understanding VMS, but, as the title says, the book is really intended for the opposite purpose.
Everything written on VMS uses lots of VMS specific stuff it was just so convenient.
There are a few companies that sell compatibility libs to make the port easier - they wont be cheap though, VMS tended to be used where reliability mattered more than cost.
The other option is to run openVMS on some modern hardware, possibly in a VM.
I am sure Brian has made his decision by now, but for my sins of working for many years in DEC OpenVMS language support (yes, some people had this dubious honour) the real question I would have asked a customer such as Brian is: is it a real-time application or not? If it is the former, then it would be heavily dependent on many VMS system services which would rule out a 'port' and indicate a re-write. If it were the latter then the frequency of VMS system services should (possibly) be limited and make a port viable.
The acid test for me, would be to SEARCH *.c "SYS$", "LIB$" i.e. to search all of the C source files for "SYS$" and "LIB$" tags which prefix VMS system services. If the count for these are in the 10s then a port is probably likely, between 10 and 100 makes it possibly likely, but over a 100 makes a successful port highly unlikely.
Hope this helps
You have several choices.
Get the OpenVMS source, and continue to maintain Open VMS as if it were a Linux distribution. Some folks don't mind keeping up with Linux distributions and OpenVMS distributions. It can be done.
Try to recompile the VMS C into Linux. This can be trivial if the C used only standard libraries. This can be very, very difficult if the C used a lot of VMS libraries.
Once you have facts at your fingertips, you can reevaluate this course of action. Since you didn't list a bunch of VMS library methods this program uses, it's impossible to tell how entangled it is with the OS.
This may be trivial or impossible. It's difficult to tell without analysis of the source.
Write bridge libraries from VMS to Linux. If your program only does a few VMS things, this isn't very difficult. If your program does extensive VMS things, this is craziness.
The bridge -- in the long run -- is a terrible idea. Managers love it, however.
An alternative is to replace the VMS library calls with proper, portable Linux calls rather than write bridges. This is better in the long run, because it excises the non-portable features of the program.
Rewrite it from scratch in Python. That is usually simpler than trying to port the C code. It will be shorter, cleaner, simpler, and portable.
If you're willing to keep running VMS in a VM, you can look into CHARON-VAX ( http://www.charon-vax.com/ ). As previously mentioned, the ease of porting really depends a lot on how much of the VMS extensions were used; searching the source code for $ characters embedded in strings (usually with a 3-character leading substring, such as lib$gettime or dsc$descriptor or sys$foobar etc) will give you at least a basic idea of what VMS system functions are called and how likely they are to be portable, if the name is reasonably obvious.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it! Why port it or migrate the app if you don't have to? Why not run it on a current install of OpenVMS running on an HP Itanium server; that is assuming you wish to upgrade the hardware, which may not even be necessary if your VAX hardware is still running strong.
To learn C, you might as well drag it from the horse's mouth: "The C Programming Language" by its inventors, Kernighan and Ritchie.
I can recommend "The UNIX programming environment" by (again) Brian Kernighan; a more authoritative source you'll hardly find, and it teaches you both Unix/C idioms and a bit of C programming at the same time.
For more depth and detail on C, I heartily enjoyed a book by Peter van der Linden: "Expert C Programming - Deep C Secrets".
You'll also want to wrestle LMS for a library documentation of VMS-specific C functions with (of course) special emphasis on those actually used in the app. That's where your porting effort will be.
The job could be easy or difficult, depending on how much machine-specific cleverness and bit-twiddling is done, and how many VMS-specific system calls are used. It would be very good if word size was equal (in other words, if your VMS box has a word size of 32 bits, don't run the code on a 64 bit version of Unix!)
Brian, I'm not sure if LMS specified/cared to port C-code or the WHOLE process. As too often people think of languages out of scope of systems.
If there're was a process built on VMS, most likely it used at least scheduling/batch facilities, which are often scripted in DCL (rather simple and clear language, unlike shell or perl scripting).
So the cost of porting the whole process may be higher than originally perceived by your LMS. Add here the reliability aspect, given your crunches with C, which is nothing impossible, of course, with enthusiasm and determination.
If you want simply give the C-code a try, as previously posted, search it for the "$" hits. Or just cc it with all headers present, the basics of compile-link command should be enough.
Alternatively, this looks like a consultant's call, as indeed such jobs were abundant at the "exodus" time. All said VMS remains quite a robust platform (24x7 is a norm!), unless the harware dies, then there're still tons of "exodus" spares. GOOD LUCK!
About a year and a half later, maybe you've already figured out what to do. My organization has recently decided to stick with OpenVMS instead of switching to Linux even though the old guard recently left. We just couldn't argue with what we felt was a very stable and reliable system. We are currently switching from Alpha servers to Integrity servers for end of life reasons. HP has been very helpful with our transition.
For that matter, there may be Linux vendors out there who can help with the transition. Ask your new hardware vendor if they have any recommendations.
Depending on what languages you already know, C is not that hard to learn. I taught myself C in the course of learning C++ after finally prying myself loose from Pascal.
(VAX Pascal, plus Rdb/VMS, plus DCL formed a combination that was hard to beat.)
If the software is typical C, you'll spend more time learning the library functions than learning the language.
It's pretty lightweight stuff, but I went through the online tutorials for C++ that Microsoft makes available in conjunction with the express edition of Visual Studio for C++.
Here's the beginner's tutorial:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/beginner/cc305129.aspx
It's probably worth making the effort to ask why LMS wants to port the application to Unix. The answer may seem obvious, but properly exploring the reasons has its benefits. I would assume:
OpenVMS is an "ultra legacy platform", and for that reason alone is something that is not worth running an application on anymore;
It's tough to find anyone who is willing to maintain an application that runs on OpenVMS these days;
The hardware on-which OpenVMS runs is threatening to become moribund.
We have a similar challenge, but in our case the application in question not only runs on OpenVMS but is also written in COBOL. I would have to say that your situation is rosy in comparison given that your application is written in a cross-platform language.
In any case, I think if you're about to make a big decision like moving from OpenVMS to Unix it would be prudent to do a little due diligence. In your case, try to assess just how portable the code is--only then will you know what the scale of the effort is (worst case could quite easily be a multiple of best case). In C, code portability is mostly a function of the dependencies--are they "standard" or are they VMS-specific?
Our enquiries revealed that HP would be supporting OpenVMS on Itanium until at least 2022. There isn't necessarily a need to rush to another platform--perhaps you could keep things on OpenVMS whilst embarking on an effort to prepare the application for porting (make it less dependent on OpenVMS specifics).
VMS has a surprisingly healthy community and if it's the lack of Unix that's the issue, then maybe GNV could help bridge the gap?
Well u have a few options. if this code needs to be ported rather quickly, i would write a bridge library to emulate the vms libs. whener you get it back up and running on a *nix, then go through replacing the vms library calls with native/portable calls for *nix.
Also if there is a lot of optimizations in the code ie inline assembly and bit twiddling. then you will have to rewrite thi code, which will take an understanding of the VAX arch. also. be sure to check word size differences and endian differences