4 ms·

JS isn't just about interpreters these days, but at the same time, IoT isn't just about efficiency. It's also about integrating with ecosystems, so that each Io

by sunfish 11y ago

JS isn't just about interpreters these days, but at the same time, IoT isn't just about efficiency. It's also about integrating with ecosystems, so that each IoT device isn't an island of itself, but can join a bigger picture.

hardwaresofton 11y ago
I agree, many of the IoT devices are certainly large enough to have at least a raspberry pi form-factor device in them (if not bigger) -- I would expect a bunch of the "smart-home" related IoT devices to have decent specs, at least ODROID or raspberry pi level. Also, the web as a platform is obviously very very well-known and popular. Mozilla just has to craft and expose the right APIs, and support the right devices (and handle the fragmentation), and they could have a great easy-to-use, robust platform almost overnight.
epoch1970 11y ago
> It's also about integrating with ecosystems, so that each IoT device isn't an island of itself, but can join a bigger picture. So why is JavaScript critical for this? C, C++, Go, and pretty much every other language out there seeing use today is capable of working with JSON, making HTTP requests, and so on, in addition to supporting communication far beyond those technologies. How are they any less capable than JavaScript in this case?
- hardwaresofton 11y ago
  Javascript isn't strictly critical for IoT, but it does benefit for being the language of the web. FFOS is in a great position to take advantage of this, because FFOS's "apps" are what we generally call web apps. Mozila doesn't have to reinvent wheels (though they will of course have to extend what we think of as the web) to handle mechanisms that have already been discussed/implemented/proven on the web. I think if you wanted to do stuff with those other languages, you'd have to build up a little bit of tooling, libraries, and other odds and ends, and you can skip at least a little of that by using JS+HTML+CSS
  - Sanddancer 11y ago
    MS's IoT platform lets you use JS where it's appropriate, but at the same time, doesn't pin you down to it. You can also write things in C#, C++, etc, even mix as needed. The problem with Firefox OS is that it's just javascript, no escape hatch, no way to talk to the rest of the non-web enabled world.
    - soapdog 11y ago
      JS on Firefox OS can talk to non-web enabled world. You have APIs to do TCP, Bluetooth and USB. Also APIs to do GPIO and I2C from JS are being developed. You can talk to more things than just http servers.

by sunfish 11y ago

hardwaresofton 11y ago

I agree, many of the IoT devices are certainly large enough to have at least a raspberry pi form-factor device in them (if not bigger) -- I would expect a bunch of the "smart-home" related IoT devices to have decent specs, at least ODROID or raspberry pi level. Also, the web as a platform is obviously very very well-known and popular. Mozilla just has to craft and expose the right APIs, and support the right devices (and handle the fragmentation), and they could have a great easy-to-use, robust platform almost overnight.

epoch1970 11y ago

> It's also about integrating with ecosystems, so that each IoT device isn't an island of itself, but can join a bigger picture. So why is JavaScript critical for this? C, C++, Go, and pretty much every other language out there seeing use today is capable of working with JSON, making HTTP requests, and so on, in addition to supporting communication far beyond those technologies. How are they any less capable than JavaScript in this case?

hardwaresofton 11y ago
Javascript isn't strictly critical for IoT, but it does benefit for being the language of the web. FFOS is in a great position to take advantage of this, because FFOS's "apps" are what we generally call web apps. Mozila doesn't have to reinvent wheels (though they will of course have to extend what we think of as the web) to handle mechanisms that have already been discussed/implemented/proven on the web. I think if you wanted to do stuff with those other languages, you'd have to build up a little bit of tooling, libraries, and other odds and ends, and you can skip at least a little of that by using JS+HTML+CSS
- Sanddancer 11y ago
  MS's IoT platform lets you use JS where it's appropriate, but at the same time, doesn't pin you down to it. You can also write things in C#, C++, etc, even mix as needed. The problem with Firefox OS is that it's just javascript, no escape hatch, no way to talk to the rest of the non-web enabled world.
  - soapdog 11y ago
    JS on Firefox OS can talk to non-web enabled world. You have APIs to do TCP, Bluetooth and USB. Also APIs to do GPIO and I2C from JS are being developed. You can talk to more things than just http servers.