Re: [avr-libc-dev] OPTIMIZE_SPEED for avr5?

[Bob Paddock]

On Tue, 06 Mar 2007 02:50:53 -0500, David Brown <address@hidden>  
wrote:

> Size is the main priority when you are low on flash space - otherwise,  
> it is irrelevant.  If your chosen AVR has 16k flash, then it does not  
> matter if the program code takes 2k or 15.9k of that flash.

Personally I agree with you, more flash is always better, and
makes project development go much easier and faster.

However, Management doesn't see it that way.
When you are using AVR's at tens of thousands a year,
like we are, the difference in cost between a 2K part
and a 16K part becomes significant.  One project has
six bytes of Flash left, to meet the price target.

The one other point that needs to be considered is that
in the AVR line you can not always mix and match
the amount of Flash you would like to have, with the
I/O that you need.  For example I could have used
a Mega162 that had a whole lot more Flash, but
that does not exists.

If you do need speed you can always code in assembly
language, if you need more Flash your screwed without
a expensive hardware redesign.