qpc/doxygen/ab.dox

/*! @mainpage About QP/C

@tableofcontents

<p><a class="extern" target="_blank" href="http://www.state-machine.com/qp"><strong>QP/C&trade; (Quantum Platform in C)</strong></a> is a lightweight, open source software framework for building responsive and modular real-time embedded applications as systems of cooperating, event-driven <a class="extern" target="_blank" href="http://www.state-machine.com/qp/index.php#Active">active objects</a> (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actor_model">actors</a>). The QP/C&trade; framework is a member of a larger family consisting of QP/C, QP/C++, and QP-nano frameworks, which are all strictly quality controlled, thoroughly documented, and commercially licensable.
</p>

@image html logo_qp.jpg

All QP&trade; frameworks can run on @ref exa_native "bare-metal single-chip microcontrollers", completely replacing a traditional Real-Time Operating System (RTOS). Ports and ready-to-use examples are provided for major @ref exa_ref_mcu "CPU families".

QP/C can also work with many traditional @ref exa_rtos "RTOSes" and @ref exa_rtos "desktop OSes" (such as Windows, Linux including embedded Linux).

The behavior of active objects is specified in QP by means of <a class="extern" target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UML_state_machine">hierarchical state machines (UML statecharts)</a>. The frameworks support manual coding of UML state machines in C or C++ as well as fully automatic code generation by means of the free graphical <a class="extern" target="_blank" href="http://www.state-machine.com/qm/help">QM&trade; modeling tool</a>.

The QP frameworks are used in millions of products worldwide in aerospace, medical devices, consumer electronics, wired and wireless telecommunications, industrial automation, transportation, robotics, and many more. The QP frameworks and the <a class="extern" target="_blank" href="http://www.state-machine.com/qm/help">QM modeling tool</a> receive over <a class="extern" target="_blank" href="http://sourceforge.net/projects/qpc/files/stats/timeline?dates=2014-01-01+to+2014-12-31">40,000 downloads a year</a>. The book, <a class="extern" target="_blank" href="http://www.state-machine.com/psicc2" >Practical UML Statecharts in C/C++, 2nd Edition</a> provides a detailed design study of the QP frameworks and explains all the related concepts.

@note
For more information about QP, please visit: <a class="extern" target="_blank" href="http://www.state-machine.com/qp"><strong>state-machine.com/qp</strong></a>


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@section comp Components of QP/C
The QP/C active object framework is comprised of the following components:

<div class="clear"></div>
@image html qp_components.jpg "Components of the QP Framework"

<div class="separate"></div>
@subsection comp_qep QEP Hierarchical Event Processor
QEP is a universal, UML-compliant event processor that enables developers to code UML state machines in highly readable ANSI-C, in which every state machine element is mapped to code precisely, unambiguously, and exactly once (traceability). QEP fully supports hierarchical state nesting, which is the fundamental mechanism for reusing behavior across many states instead of repeating the same actions and transitions over and over again. (See also @ref qep).

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@subsection comp_qf QF Active-Object Framework
QF is a portable, event-driven, active-object (actor) framework for execution of **active objects** (concurrent state machines) specifically designed for real-time embedded (RTE) systems. (See also @ref qf).

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@subsection comp_qk QK Preemptive Kernel
QK is a tiny **preemptive**, priority-based, non-blocking, real-time kernel designed specifically for executing active objects. QK meets all the requirement of the <a class="extern" target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rate-monotonic_scheduling"><strong>Rate Monotonic Scheduling</strong></a> (a.k.a. Rate Monotonic Analysis &mdash; RMA) and can be used in hard real-time systems. (See also @ref qk). 

<div class="separate"></div>
@subsection comp_qv  QV Cooperative Kernel
QV is a simple **cooperative** kernel (previously called "Vanilla" kernel). This kernel executes active objects one at a time, with priority-based scheduling performed before processing of each event. Due to naturally short duration of event processing in state machines, the simple QV kernel is often adequate for many real-time systems. (See also @ref qv). 

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@subsection comp_qs QS Software Tracing System
QS is software tracing system that enables developers to monitor live event-driven QP applications with minimal target system resources and without stopping or significantly slowing down the code. QS is an ideal tool for testing, troubleshooting, and optimizing QP applications. QS can even be used to support acceptance testing in product manufacturing. (See also @ref qs).


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@section download Downloading QP/C
QP/C is available for download from <a class="extern" target="_blank" href="http://sourceforge.net/projects/qpc/files/QP-C">SourceForge.net</a>--the world's biggest open source repository. The summary of available downloads is also available from <a class="extern" target="_blank" href="http://www.state-machine.com/downloads">Quantum Leaps download page</a>. 


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@section licensing Licensing QP/C

QP/C is licensed under the increasingly popular <a class="extern" target="_blank" href="http://www.state-machine.com/licensing">dual licensing model</a>, in which both the open source software distribution mechanism and traditional closed source software distribution models are combined.

@note If your company has a policy forbidding open source in your product, all QP frameworks can be licensed commercially, in which case you don't use any open source license and you do not violate your policy.

Open Source Projects:
---------------------
If you are developing and distributing open source applications under the GNU General Public License (GPL), as published by the Free Software Foundation, then you are free to use the Quantum Leaps software under the <a class="extern" target="_blank" href="http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html">GPL version 3</a> of the License, or (at your option) any later version. Please note that GPL requires that all modifications to the original code as well as your application code (Derivative Works as defined in the Copyright Law) must also be released under the terms of the GPL open source license.

Closed Source Projects:
-----------------------
If you are developing and distributing traditional closed source applications, you can purchase one of <a class="extern" target="_blank" href="http://www.state-machine.com/licensing/index.php#Commercial">Quantum Leaps commercial licenses</a>, which are specifically designed for users interested in retaining the proprietary status of their code. All Quantum Leaps commercial licenses expressly supersede the GPL open source license. This means that when you license Quantum Leaps software under a commercial license, you specifically do not use the software under the open source license and therefore you are not subject to any of its terms. 


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@section getting_started Getting Started with QP/C
The Quantum Leaps Application Note <a class="extern" target="_blank" href="http://www.state-machine.com/quickstart/Getting_Started_with_QPC.pdf"><strong>Getting Started with QP/C</strong></a> provides step-by-step instructions on how to get started with QP/C quickly.

@image html AN_Getting_Started_with_QPC.jpg

The standard QP/C distribution contains also many @ref exa "Example Projects", which are specifically designed to help you learn to use QP/C and to serve you as starting points for your own projects.


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@section support Help and Support
Please post any **technical questions** to the <a class="extern" target="_blank" href="http://sourceforge.net/p/qpc/discussion/668726"><strong>Free Support Forum</strong></a> hosted on SourceForge.net. Posts to this forum benefit the whole community and are typically answered the same day.

Direct **Commercial Support** is available to the commercial licensees. Every commercial license includes one year of Technical Support for the licensed software. The support term can be extended annually.

Training and consulting services are also available from Quantum Leaps. Please refer to the <a class="extern" target="_blank" href="http://www.state-machine.com/support/">Support web-page</a> for more information.


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@section qpc_files Directories and Files

The following annotated directory tree lists the top-level directories provided in the standard QP/C distribution.

<ul class="tag">
  <li><span class="img folder">qpc</span>
  </li>
  <ul class="tag">
    <li><span class="img folder">3rd_party</span> &mdash; Third-Party code used in the QP/C @ref ports "ports" and @ref exa "examples"
    </li>
    <li><span class="img folder">examples</span> &mdash; @ref exa "QP/C Examples"
    </li>
    <li><span class="img folder">ports</span> &mdash; @ref ports "QP/C Ports"
    </li>
    <li><span class="img folder">include</span> &mdash; Platform-independent QP/C API (see <a href="dir_d44c64559bbebec7f509842c48db8b23.html"><strong>include</strong></a>)
    </li>
    <li><span class="img folder">source</span> &mdash; Platform-independent QP/C source code (see @ref <a href="dir_b2f33c71d4aa5e7af42a1ca61ff5af1b.html"><strong>source</strong></a>)
    </li>
  </ul>
</ul>  


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@section oop Object-Orientation

Even though QP/C is implemented in standard ANSI-C, it extensively uses object-oriented design principles such as **encapsulation** (classes), single **inheritance**, and, starting with QP5, **polymorphism** (late binding). At the C language level, these proven ways of software design become **design-patterns** and coding idioms.

@image html AN_Simple_OOP_in_C.jpg

The Quantum Leaps Application Note <a class="extern" target="_blank" href="http://www.state-machine.com/resources/AN_Simple_OOP_in_C.pdf"><strong>Simple Object-Oriented Programming in C</strong></a> describes how the OOP design patterns are implemented in QP/C and how you should code them in your own applications.


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@section misra MISRA Compliance

<p>The QP/C framework comply with most of the Motor Industry Software Reliability Association (MISRA) MISRA-C:2004 rules.
</p>

@image html AN_MISRA.jpg "QP/C MISRA-C:2004 Compliance Matrix"

All deviations are carefully limited into very specific contexts and are documented with the Application Note: <a class="extern" target="_blank" href="http://www.state-machine.com/resources/AN_QP-C_MISRA.pdf"><strong>QP/C MISRA-C:2004 Compliance Matrix</strong></a>.

@note
MISRA and MISRA C are registered trademarks of MIRA Ltd, held on behalf of the MISRA Consortium.

The MISRA guidelines place great emphasis on the use of static code analysts tools to check compliance with the MISRA-C language subset. To this end, QP/C comes with an extensive support for automatic rule checking with @ref misra_lint "PC-Lint". The QP frameworks go even beyond MISRA, by complying with the <strong>strict type checking</strong> of PC-Lint and a very consistent, documented <a class="extern" target="_blank" href="http://www.state-machine.com/resources/AN_QL_Coding_Standard.pdf" >Quantum Leaps Coding Standard</a>.


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@section pc-lint PC-Lint Support

The QP/C framework comes with extensive support for automatic rule checking by means of <a class="extern" target="_blank" href="http://www.gimpel.com/">PC-Lint</a>, which is designed not just for proving compliance of the Q/CP framework code, but more importantly, to aid in checking compliance of the application-level code. Any organization engaged in designing safety-related embedded software could benefit from the unprecedented quality infrastructure built around the QP/C framework.

@sa @ref lint "Lint Port"


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@section contact Contact Information

- Quantum Leaps Web site:   <a class="extern" target="_blank" href="http://www.state-machine.com">www.state-machine.com</a>

- Quantum Leaps licensing:  <a class="extern" target="_blank" href="http://www.state-machine.com">www.state-machine.com/licensing</a>

- QP/QM on SourceForge.net: <a class="extern" target="_blank" href="http://sourceforge.net/projects/qpc">sourceforge.net/projects/qpc</a>

- e-mail: <a class="extern" target="_blank" href="mailto:info@state-machine.com">info@state-machine.com</a>

@image html logo_ql_TM.jpg
Copyright &copy; 2002-2015 Quantum Leaps, LLC. All Rights Reserved.


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