7 ms·

PlatformIO, open source ecosystem for IoT

143 points by wiradikusuma 10y ago

IgorPartola 10y ago
PlatformIO is great. If you want to do serious work, and not just mess around with Arduino, it provides a great ecosystem and excellent tooling. No custom IDE necessary.
- StavrosK 10y ago
  I especially love the library management part. There's no versioning, but it's really helpful to be able to just list your libraries and have them be automatically downloaded and linked to your executable.
  - Sembiance 10y ago
    I love and use PlatformIO, but I've dumped their library system because often the libraries in the pio db are a version or two behind what I can get from github.
    - ikravets 10y ago
      It depends on a library manifest (library.json, library.properties or module.json). If library's author updates "version" field, then PIO Library Crawler will update it in a registry. Please note that you can manually update manifest and make PR to author's repository. Click on "Manifest" tab when looking at a library in Web Registry and you will see "Edit" button.
    - StavrosK 10y ago
      Like ikravets said, the crawler just scrapes Github, so updating the libs is just a pull request away. As a library creator, I like how integrated it is with Github, which means I don't need to upload a new version of my library anywhere, I just need to remember to change the version in the JSON.
  - ikravets 10y ago
    > I especially love the library management part. There's no versioning It is! :) http://docs.platformio.org/en/latest/librarymanager/index.html http://docs.platformio.org/en/latest/librarymanager/index.ht...
    - StavrosK 10y ago
      Oh, you added it? Fantastic, I love all the great work you do on PlatformIO.
- luca_ing 10y ago
  > PlatformIO is great. If you want to do serious work I'll provide the counterpoint. If I want to do serious work, then PlatformIO is too constraining, and doesn't offer a painless way out of these constraints. Other than not to use it.
skywal_l 10y ago
Been using it for a while. It's pretty good. Allows to do serious work in a controlled environment.
cryptarch 10y ago
I really enjoyed using its CLI in a summer job two years ago, I used it for making some basic light-responsive RGB leds. Ivan Kravets was also very helpful and responsive in the issue tracker.
poyu 10y ago
I've been using it for a while developing ESP8266 projects. It's really enjoyable to not having to mess around with Makefiles and managing dependencies myself.
Mazzen 10y ago
One major error in principle is that PlatformIO will infiltrate an existing Atom installation. PlatformIO can not be installed in parallel (as far as I know) and it will not warn before doing serious changes to your nicely nurtured Atom configuration.
- BoorishBears 10y ago
  Not sure why they switched from providing a customized Atom installation. Whenever I first used it, on OSX I got a binary that was customized. Recently I installed it again and the instructions had changed to modify an existing installlation
- deltux 10y ago
  Actually, it is just a standard package in Atom. If you feel it disrupts your day-to-day workflow in Atom, you can just disable the package.
- StavrosK 10y ago
  I'm guessing you mean the PlatformIO editor, which is different from PlatformIO itself. You can install PlatformIO without installing the editor at all, which is entirely how I use it.
  - Mazzen 10y ago
    Yeah sure but Atom is one of the most intriguing parts of PlatformIO, especially if you want a better alternative to the shitty Arduino Editor...
    - tcurdt 10y ago
      On what planet is the Atom part the most intriguing part? Having one interface to all the stupid build chains and libraries is the point for me. Next up the freedom to use a proper editor - any editor. Not that POS Arduino thing.
geokon 10y ago
I've only heard good things about PlatformIO, but it always seems like they sorta reinvented the wheel instead of using existing tools. They've done a LOT of the hard work of making stuff "just-work", but why didn't they do all this using the normal tool-chain like CMake/git/GNU-tools/crosstool-NG/etc.? Is there something extra I'm missing that you can't do with the existing tools? Or is it to get some kind of lock-in and promote a commercial product? I've only done a very little programming for Arduino and the ESP8266 (where you can get the normal toolchain running... with some effort), but I got the impression that the embedded world has been trying to move away from magic "platforms" that do things for you in the background
- luca_ing 10y ago
  I agree. I've been in a row with their founder over the same criticism you offer. PlatformIO is really nice and smooth and seamless, as long as you do exactly what they think you should be doing. It would be a great product if it un-bundled all the functions. Of course that would make it not-really-a-product, and they couldn't charge money for it as easily. But instead it's a monolith that offers you little wiggle-room. For instance for the longest time it didn't expect you would do unit testing. There was no way to include it in your build, other than hacking PlatformIO itself. They've since added unit testing, but only using a framework of their choice. Which is nice, unless you already have a code base, or a preference for a framework. My friend put it quite succinctly: "I understand it from a vendors POV: they know that customers feel the pain of integrating disparate systems, so the sell the product that has done all that for them. Once both sides have bought in, they are reluctant to acknowledge that what they have is a monolith that makes the integration problem harder rather than making it go away." > Is there something extra I'm missing that you can't do with the existing tools? There isn't. And in fact there are other build systems you can use without having to use either the vendor's tools, or start form scratch. > Or is it to get some kind of lock-in and promote a commercial product? Pretty much. They're a company, and are (legitimately) trying to make a profit.
  - ikravets 10y ago
    > It would be a great product if it un-bundled all the functions. Of course that would make it not-really-a-product, and they couldn't charge money for it as easily. But instead it's a monolith that offers you little wiggle-room. Could you explain in details? Do you know that you can create own development platform or add support for new embedded board wihout our support? - http://docs.platformio.org/en/latest/platforms/custom_platform_and_board.html http://docs.platformio.org/en/latest/platforms/custom_platfo... Yes, PIO Core 2.0 was monolitic. We rewrote it from scratch and announced decentrizlied PIO Core 3.0 in September, 2016: - http://docs.platformio.org/en/latest/history.html#id7 http://docs.platformio.org/en/latest/history.html#id7 > They've since added unit testing, but only using a framework of their choice. Which is nice, unless you already have a code base, or a preference for a framework. Which framework/workflow do you use for unit testing?
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- deleted 10y ago
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Yaggo 10y ago
Happy user here as well. Doing Arduino/ESP8266 development using macOS host. PlatformIO is a fresh breeze for embedded development.
- swah 10y ago
  I've been using https://github.com/SuperHouse/esp-open-rtos https://github.com/SuperHouse/esp-open-rtos. Who exactly is the target audience for PlatformIO?
  - Yaggo 10y ago
    Compare the 'Quick Start' documentation of esp-open-tool to ´brew install platformio´, ´platformio init´. That's pretty much the point of PlatformIO, I guess.
    - swah 10y ago
      Right, but is the expectation to stay in that platform as one improves his skills?
      - Yaggo 10y ago
        I don't know. Personally, embedded programming is a hobby for me. As a long time unix user, I've no problems with complex development environment setups, but if there exists a scripted, tested, and mainained alternative, I'll probably prefer that, because I don't want to recall the configuration details for every platform I program on (esp. if it's non-daily activity).
jasiek 10y ago
I've been using it for at least a year now, A++ would code again.
formulahendry 10y ago
PlatformIO is just cool. Let me switch from Arduino IDE. Also, it provides great CLI tool so that it could be well integrated with other IDEs/Editors. Since I am a VS Code fan, so I could leverage the good CLI and build a PlatformIO extension for VS Code: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=formulahendry.platformio https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=formulah...
msurguy 10y ago
I work with Arduino on ESP chips. I could not imagine embedded development without PlatformIO. With just so many types of hardware, each having slight dofferences and intricacies, it quickly becomes wasteful to use individual solutions. PlatformIO accomplishes so many goals at once, I am deeply grateful for this product!

143 points by wiradikusuma 10y ago

PlatformIO is great. If you want to do serious work, and not just mess around with Arduino, it provides a great ecosystem and excellent tooling. No custom IDE necessary.

StavrosK 10y ago
I especially love the library management part. There's no versioning, but it's really helpful to be able to just list your libraries and have them be automatically downloaded and linked to your executable.
- Sembiance 10y ago
  I love and use PlatformIO, but I've dumped their library system because often the libraries in the pio db are a version or two behind what I can get from github.
  - ikravets 10y ago
    It depends on a library manifest (library.json, library.properties or module.json). If library's author updates "version" field, then PIO Library Crawler will update it in a registry. Please note that you can manually update manifest and make PR to author's repository. Click on "Manifest" tab when looking at a library in Web Registry and you will see "Edit" button.
  - StavrosK 10y ago
    Like ikravets said, the crawler just scrapes Github, so updating the libs is just a pull request away. As a library creator, I like how integrated it is with Github, which means I don't need to upload a new version of my library anywhere, I just need to remember to change the version in the JSON.
- ikravets 10y ago
  > I especially love the library management part. There's no versioning It is! :) http://docs.platformio.org/en/latest/librarymanager/index.html http://docs.platformio.org/en/latest/librarymanager/index.ht...
  - StavrosK 10y ago
    Oh, you added it? Fantastic, I love all the great work you do on PlatformIO.
luca_ing 10y ago
> PlatformIO is great. If you want to do serious work I'll provide the counterpoint. If I want to do serious work, then PlatformIO is too constraining, and doesn't offer a painless way out of these constraints. Other than not to use it.

skywal_l 10y ago

Been using it for a while. It's pretty good. Allows to do serious work in a controlled environment.

cryptarch 10y ago

I really enjoyed using its CLI in a summer job two years ago, I used it for making some basic light-responsive RGB leds. Ivan Kravets was also very helpful and responsive in the issue tracker.

poyu 10y ago

I've been using it for a while developing ESP8266 projects. It's really enjoyable to not having to mess around with Makefiles and managing dependencies myself.

Mazzen 10y ago

One major error in principle is that PlatformIO will infiltrate an existing Atom installation. PlatformIO can not be installed in parallel (as far as I know) and it will not warn before doing serious changes to your nicely nurtured Atom configuration.

BoorishBears 10y ago
Not sure why they switched from providing a customized Atom installation. Whenever I first used it, on OSX I got a binary that was customized. Recently I installed it again and the instructions had changed to modify an existing installlation
deltux 10y ago
Actually, it is just a standard package in Atom. If you feel it disrupts your day-to-day workflow in Atom, you can just disable the package.
StavrosK 10y ago
I'm guessing you mean the PlatformIO editor, which is different from PlatformIO itself. You can install PlatformIO without installing the editor at all, which is entirely how I use it.
- Mazzen 10y ago
  Yeah sure but Atom is one of the most intriguing parts of PlatformIO, especially if you want a better alternative to the shitty Arduino Editor...
  - tcurdt 10y ago
    On what planet is the Atom part the most intriguing part? Having one interface to all the stupid build chains and libraries is the point for me. Next up the freedom to use a proper editor - any editor. Not that POS Arduino thing.

geokon 10y ago

I've only heard good things about PlatformIO, but it always seems like they sorta reinvented the wheel instead of using existing tools. They've done a LOT of the hard work of making stuff "just-work", but why didn't they do all this using the normal tool-chain like CMake/git/GNU-tools/crosstool-NG/etc.? Is there something extra I'm missing that you can't do with the existing tools? Or is it to get some kind of lock-in and promote a commercial product? I've only done a very little programming for Arduino and the ESP8266 (where you can get the normal toolchain running... with some effort), but I got the impression that the embedded world has been trying to move away from magic "platforms" that do things for you in the background

luca_ing 10y ago
I agree. I've been in a row with their founder over the same criticism you offer. PlatformIO is really nice and smooth and seamless, as long as you do exactly what they think you should be doing. It would be a great product if it un-bundled all the functions. Of course that would make it not-really-a-product, and they couldn't charge money for it as easily. But instead it's a monolith that offers you little wiggle-room. For instance for the longest time it didn't expect you would do unit testing. There was no way to include it in your build, other than hacking PlatformIO itself. They've since added unit testing, but only using a framework of their choice. Which is nice, unless you already have a code base, or a preference for a framework. My friend put it quite succinctly: "I understand it from a vendors POV: they know that customers feel the pain of integrating disparate systems, so the sell the product that has done all that for them. Once both sides have bought in, they are reluctant to acknowledge that what they have is a monolith that makes the integration problem harder rather than making it go away." > Is there something extra I'm missing that you can't do with the existing tools? There isn't. And in fact there are other build systems you can use without having to use either the vendor's tools, or start form scratch. > Or is it to get some kind of lock-in and promote a commercial product? Pretty much. They're a company, and are (legitimately) trying to make a profit.
- ikravets 10y ago
  > It would be a great product if it un-bundled all the functions. Of course that would make it not-really-a-product, and they couldn't charge money for it as easily. But instead it's a monolith that offers you little wiggle-room. Could you explain in details? Do you know that you can create own development platform or add support for new embedded board wihout our support? - http://docs.platformio.org/en/latest/platforms/custom_platform_and_board.html http://docs.platformio.org/en/latest/platforms/custom_platfo... Yes, PIO Core 2.0 was monolitic. We rewrote it from scratch and announced decentrizlied PIO Core 3.0 in September, 2016: - http://docs.platformio.org/en/latest/history.html#id7 http://docs.platformio.org/en/latest/history.html#id7 > They've since added unit testing, but only using a framework of their choice. Which is nice, unless you already have a code base, or a preference for a framework. Which framework/workflow do you use for unit testing?

deleted 10y ago

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deleted 10y ago
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Yaggo 10y ago

Happy user here as well. Doing Arduino/ESP8266 development using macOS host. PlatformIO is a fresh breeze for embedded development.

swah 10y ago
I've been using https://github.com/SuperHouse/esp-open-rtos https://github.com/SuperHouse/esp-open-rtos. Who exactly is the target audience for PlatformIO?
- Yaggo 10y ago
  Compare the 'Quick Start' documentation of esp-open-tool to ´brew install platformio´, ´platformio init´. That's pretty much the point of PlatformIO, I guess.
  - swah 10y ago
    Right, but is the expectation to stay in that platform as one improves his skills?
    - Yaggo 10y ago
      I don't know. Personally, embedded programming is a hobby for me. As a long time unix user, I've no problems with complex development environment setups, but if there exists a scripted, tested, and mainained alternative, I'll probably prefer that, because I don't want to recall the configuration details for every platform I program on (esp. if it's non-daily activity).

jasiek 10y ago

I've been using it for at least a year now, A++ would code again.

formulahendry 10y ago

PlatformIO is just cool. Let me switch from Arduino IDE. Also, it provides great CLI tool so that it could be well integrated with other IDEs/Editors. Since I am a VS Code fan, so I could leverage the good CLI and build a PlatformIO extension for VS Code: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=formulahendry.platformio https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=formulah...

msurguy 10y ago

I work with Arduino on ESP chips. I could not imagine embedded development without PlatformIO. With just so many types of hardware, each having slight dofferences and intricacies, it quickly becomes wasteful to use individual solutions. PlatformIO accomplishes so many goals at once, I am deeply grateful for this product!