Training course · Windsurf · C/C++ & Embedded

Windsurf for C/C++ and Embedded Developers

Develop with the Windsurf AI IDE and its Cascade agent: flows, memories, rules, workflows and safe use across the team.

Duration
2 days (14 hrs)
Format
Online or on-site
Language
German or English
Participants
open dates or exclusive for your team
Certificate
Certificate of attendance

Overview

“Windsurf for C/C++ and Embedded Developers” is designed for roles such as Embedded software engineers working with microcontrollers and RTOS-based systems, C++ developers in systems software, automotive and industrial automation and Firmware and device driver developers and shows step by step how to use Windsurf productively, safely and transparently in C/C++ & Embedded – from the fundamentals to advanced workflows.

Windsurf is an AI-powered development environment built around its agent, Cascade. Cascade understands the structure of your project, follows your actions in the editor and terminal, and works with you according to the flow principle: you and the agent take turns on the same task without having to re-explain context over and over. In this two-day course you will learn how to use Cascade effectively for features, debugging and refactoring, and how to make the most of intelligent completion in your daily development work.

To keep results consistent across a team, you steer Cascade with global and workspace rules, rely on memories for lasting project knowledge and automate recurring procedures with workflows that run from a slash command. You will connect external tools through MCP, control how terminal commands are executed and decide which data Cascade is allowed to see. Finally, you will define rules for code review, security and data protection so that Windsurf can be used responsibly within your organisation and its existing processes.

In embedded and systems development, determinism, memory safety and tight resource budgets matter more than almost anywhere else. AI coding assistants and agents help you read datasheets and register maps, write drivers and hardware abstraction layers, clear compiler warnings and static analysis findings, and build unit tests with mocks for hardware access. The domain also demands particular care: undefined behaviour, race conditions in interrupt handlers or MISRA violations creep in quickly when generated code is accepted uncritically. In this course you learn to integrate AI into your cross-compilation workflow with CMake, debuggers and hardware-in-the-loop tests while meeting the quality and safety expectations of functionally safe products.

The course is delivered live – either online in a virtual classroom or on-site in our training rooms in Munich, Salzburg, Berlin, Augsburg, Hanover, Bremen, Stuttgart and Kaiserslautern. We can also run it exclusively for your team.

Who is this course for?

  • Embedded software engineers working with microcontrollers and RTOS-based systems
  • C++ developers in systems software, automotive and industrial automation
  • Firmware and device driver developers
  • Embedded Linux and Yocto developers
  • Test and verification engineers for embedded systems

Typical challenges we address

  • Memory errors, undefined behaviour and concurrency bugs are hard to find and costly in the field
  • Legacy C codebases full of global state and macros with little test coverage
  • Significant effort to comply with and evidence coding standards such as MISRA C/C++ or AUTOSAR C++
  • Hardware knowledge locked in datasheets and in the heads of a few experts

What you will be able to do

  • You use Cascade productively in flow for features, debugging and refactoring.
  • You steer Windsurf’s context precisely and keep sensitive content protected.
  • You maintain memories and rules that reliably enforce your project conventions.
  • You automate recurring procedures with workflows and connect external tools via MCP.
  • Apply AI agents to driver development, refactoring and debugging in C and C++ in a targeted, verifiable way.
  • Raise test coverage of low-level software with generated unit tests and mocks that run on the host.
  • Combine AI support with coding standards, static analysis and the evidence requirements of safety-related development.

Course outline

Day 1

Module 1 Getting to know Windsurf and Cascade
  • Installation, importing existing editor settings and basic configuration
  • Cascade in code and chat mode: when the agent edits and when it only advises
  • The flow principle: how Cascade takes your editor and terminal actions into account
  • Intelligent completion and inline commands in everyday development
Module 2 Steering context
  • Understanding codebase indexing and referencing relevant files or directories
  • Bringing documentation, web sources and terminal output into context
  • Excluding sensitive content from context with ignore files
  • Structuring sessions and starting afresh when the topic changes
Module 3 Memories and rules for consistent results
  • Reviewing and maintaining auto-generated and manually created memories
  • Creating and versioning global and workspace rules
  • Expressing architecture, style and testing guidelines as effective rules
  • Activating rules selectively by file pattern or occasion
Module 4 Workflows and automation
  • Defining recurring procedures as workflows and launching them via slash command
  • Building workflows for release preparation, testing or code maintenance
  • Connecting MCP servers for issue trackers, databases or internal services
  • Controlling terminal command execution with allow and deny lists

Day 2

Module 5 Quality, review and governance
  • Tracing Cascade’s changes, accepting them partially or reverting them
  • Using a test-driven approach and preview features for verification
  • Team settings, data protection options and handling of secrets
  • Defining review processes and accountability for AI-generated code
Module 6 Practice lab: C/C++ & Embedded
  • Drivers from datasheets
  • Making sense of static analysis
  • Unit tests with hardware mocks
  • Crash and memory analysis
  • Introducing modern C++
  • Build and toolchain upkeep
Module 7 Data protection, quality & transfer to daily work
  • Firmware is often core intellectual property and may be subject to export control or security requirements: you learn how to protect source code, assess licensing risks in generated code and reconcile AI use with the Cyber Resilience Act, IEC 62443 and functional safety under ISO 26262 or IEC 61508.
  • Ground rules for safe AI use in your team
  • Checking results: facts, sources, tests and the four-eyes principle
  • Personal action plan for the next 30 days
  • Open questions, outlook and resources for further learning

Practical scenarios from your field

Drivers from datasheets

Have register descriptions and timing diagrams structured from datasheets, then derive headers with bitfield definitions, initialisation routines and a lean hardware abstraction layer for SPI, I²C or UART peripherals.

Making sense of static analysis

Explain and prioritise findings from clang-tidy, cppcheck or MISRA checkers, propose compliant corrections and prepare justified deviations for your deviation records. Recurring patterns can then be fixed across the codebase.

Unit tests with hardware mocks

Extract testable interfaces from low-level code, generate mocks for register and HAL access and create unit tests with GoogleTest, Unity or CppUTest that run on the host.

Crash and memory analysis

Interpret HardFault registers, stack traces, core dumps and sanitiser output, narrow down likely causes such as stack overflows or use-after-free and suggest targeted debugging steps.

Introducing modern C++

Gradually replace raw pointers, manual memory management and macros with RAII, constexpr, smart pointers and type-safe abstractions without degrading real-time behaviour or the memory budget.

Build and toolchain upkeep

Structure CMake projects for cross-compilation, create toolchain files, linker scripts and CI jobs for firmware builds and analyse build failures in the context of the target platform.

Possible hands-on projects

Register header generator

A script that converts register tables from an SVD or CSV file into type-safe C headers with masks, offsets and accessor functions.

Serial protocol monitor

A desktop tool that reads from a serial port, decodes a custom binary protocol and displays frames with timestamps and filters.

MISRA report dashboard

A small web view that aggregates static analysis results, groups rule violations by module and tracks progress across builds. New violations are highlighted.

Prerequisites

You program regularly in at least one language and are familiar with Git and a modern IDE. You are proficient in C or C++ and experienced with build systems, debugging and low-level or systems programming.

Technical requirements

Your own laptop with the Windsurf editor, Git and your usual toolchain installed; a Windsurf account with access to Cascade is required.

Data protection & compliance

Firmware is often core intellectual property and may be subject to export control or security requirements: you learn how to protect source code, assess licensing risks in generated code and reconcile AI use with the Cyber Resilience Act, IEC 62443 and functional safety under ISO 26262 or IEC 61508.

Suggested dates

All dates are suggestions – your preferred date is always possible.

  • Mon, 23 November 2026 – Tue, 24 November 2026 Online Request
  • Thu, 3 December 2026 – Fri, 4 December 2026 Kaiserslautern Request
  • Mon, 7 December 2026 – Tue, 8 December 2026 Online Request
  • Tue, 15 December 2026 – Wed, 16 December 2026 Bremen Request
  • Tue, 12 January 2027 – Wed, 13 January 2027 Online Request
  • Tue, 26 January 2027 – Wed, 27 January 2027 Salzburg Request

Frequently asked questions

What does Windsurf mean by flows?

Flows describe the close collaboration between you and Cascade. The agent observes what you do in the editor and terminal and takes those actions into account in its next steps. As a result you do not have to keep explaining where you are, and you can move smoothly between doing the work yourself and delegating it to the agent.

How do memories, rules and workflows differ?

Memories store knowledge that Cascade has gathered while working or that you have explicitly recorded. Rules are guidelines you write that shape the agent’s behaviour permanently. Workflows are reusable sequences of steps for recurring tasks, launched with a slash command. Together they keep results consistent across the whole team.

Can I use Windsurf with my existing projects and languages?

Yes. Windsurf is language-agnostic and works with your existing toolchain, including build tools, package managers and test frameworks. Whether you work on back end, front end, data processing or infrastructure code, what matters is giving Cascade good rules and clear context. Each course variant adds the specific focus for your field.

Is AI-generated code acceptable in safety-critical embedded systems?

Standards such as ISO 26262 or IEC 61508 do not prohibit AI tools, but they require traceable processes, reviews, testing and, where relevant, tool qualification. Generated code is therefore treated like any other code: reviewed, tested and verified against coding standards. In the course you develop working practices that support this evidence rather than bypass it.

Can an AI agent work with my target hardware?

Agents can trigger builds, flash devices, read serial output and run tests on the host or a hardware-in-the-loop rig, provided you expose the right command-line tools. We show you how to set up such loops in a controlled way, with clear permissions and without the agent accessing production devices unsupervised.

How much does “Windsurf for C/C++ and Embedded Developers” cost?

The course costs a flat €949 plus VAT per participant – whether online or on-site. This includes 2 training day(s) with a live trainer, course materials, a lab environment and a certificate of attendance.

Can I suggest my own date?

Yes. Our suggested dates are just a guide. In the request form you can always describe your preferred date or period in free text – we check availability and confirm within one working day.

Is the course online or on-site?

Both are possible: live online in a virtual classroom or on-site in Munich, Salzburg, Berlin, Augsburg, Hanover, Bremen, Stuttgart or Kaiserslautern. We can also run the course exclusively for your team.

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