HAL vs SAL
Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) is software that abstracts hardware-specific details from the application or higher-level software. It provides a unified API for accessing hardware functionalities, making it easier to develop software that can run on different hardware platforms without modification. Some examples include:
- GPIO, UART, I2C, etc.
- In Operating Systems, like Linux and Windows, HAL provides APIs for interacting with hardware without dealing with low-level device registers. E.g., HAL in Android, Linux kernel HAL, STM32 HAL
SAL (Software Abstraction Layer)
SAL is a layer that abstracts specific software functionalities or services, providing a common interface for applications to interact with system services, middleware, or third-party software components. Some examples include:
- Cloud Computing: Abstracting APIs for cloud services across different providers.
- Middleware Systems: Abstracting communication between applications and underlying libraries.
