Ch contains the following salient features for students to learn coding, math, and robotics as well as for developers to contribute to the system and for embedded scripting.

Cross-platform C/C++ interpreter

Ch supports 1999 ISO C Standard (C99) and C++ classes. Ch also supports many industry standards including POSIX, socket/Winsock, X11/Motif, OpenGL, ODBC, C LAPACK, GTK+, Win32, and CGI. With Ch SDK, functions in static or dynamic binary C/C++ libraries can be executed in Ch shell or script file.

User-friendly integrated development environment (IDE)

ChIDE is efficient and lightweight. No need to create project or workspace to run your program. ChIDE is also the most effective IDE for instructors to make interactive classroom presentations to demonstrate different programming features and concepts, and respond to students' questions.

Embeddable scripting

Embedded Ch allows users to embed Ch into C/C++ application such as game, semiconductor ATE, SoC, CAM, IC, PCB, RF, MEMS, LED as a scripting engine. Embedded Ch supports multi-threading and debug. C/C++ applications can be extended with all features of Ch scripting. It has a small footprint. The pointer and time deterministic nature of the C language provides a perfect interface in real-time systems.

Shell programming and cross-platform scripting

Ch bridges the gap between the C language and shell languages. It is a genuine C shell -- C compatible shell. Ch is an interpretive implementation of C, similar to Unix/MS-DOS shells. With its built-in string type and many enhanced scripting features, Ch is an alternative to other scripting languages for automating repetitive tasks, regression test, and hardware testing.

2D/3D plotting

Ch supports high-level C++ 2D/3D graphical plotting and visualization. Two and three dimensional graphical plots can be very easily accomplished. With SoftIntegration graphical library (SIGL), the same program using 2D/3D plotting features can be executed in Ch or compiled using C++ compilers.

Numerical computing

Ch numerical extensions are the best choice for numerical computing in the C/C++ domain. Ch has built-in type-generic mathematical functions and computational arrays for linear algebra and matrix computations. It contains advanced high-level numerical functions for linear systems, differential equation solving, integration, non-linear equations, Fourier analysis, curve fitting, etc. For example, linear system equation b = A*x can be written verbatim in Ch. Ch supports C LAPACK, GNU Multiple Precision Arithmetic Library, and GNU Scientific Library.

Ch toolkits and third party software support

Ch is ideal for rapid application development and deployment. Ch supports an increasing number of third party software applications. It includes Ch Control toolkit, Ch Mechanism Toolkit, Ch NAG Statistics Package, Ch CGI toolkit, Ch ODBC toolkit, Ch XML toolkit, ChExcel for manipulating Microsoft Excel in C/C++ scripts, Intel OpenCV for computer vision, ImageMagick for image processing, National Instruments' data acquisition toolkit NI-DAQ and motion control toolkit NI-Motion.

Pricing and Availability

Ch and Embedded Ch for Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, Solaris sparc, Solaris X64, HP-UX, FreeBSD and QNX Neutrino RTOS are available. Ch Professional Edition is $199 for commercial use and $129 for academic use. A teaching lab license is available. However, Ch for ARM and Raspberry Pi is free for non-commercial use (personal and educational use). To purchase Embedded Ch, contact SoftIntegration directly.