Part 2 of a series on simulating embedded projects on a desktop computer. Covers two approaches beyond basic printf/getchar: virtual hardware simulators (Wokwi, Renode, QEMU, TinkerCAD, Proteus) and building GUI-based simulated peripherals. Introduces the 'Main Major' pattern for hooking application code into platform-specific main functions. Compares immediate mode GUIs (raygui, FlatUI, PySimpleGUI) vs retained mode GUIs (Qt, GTK), arguing immediate mode is simpler for embedded simulation. Also explains how to link separate GUI and application processes using virtual serial ports via socat or com2com, enabling cross-language simulation setups.
4 Impressions