Computing Dictionary
elevator controller definition
An archetypal dumb embedded-systems application, like
toaster (which superseded it). During one period (1983--84) in the deliberations of ANSI X3J11 (the C standardisation committee) this was the canonical example of a really stupid, memory-limited computation environment. "You can't require "printf(3)" to be part of the default run-time library - what if you're targeting an elevator controller?" Elevator controllers became important rhetorical weapons on both sides of several
holy wars.
