Ask HN: IOT devices – what language to choose?

[dartwing]

Guys, what language do you use for IOT devices? Is it C/C++ only?

When we look at something small like connected sensor - will it have enough power to support runtime for Java/JavaScript/C#?

[logronoide]

I have worked and invested in M2M and IIOT companies, and I think the most effective languages are:

- C

- Python

- Lua

Since new devices are more powerful and full OS can now be used, JavaScript is growing. Also, in the past J2ME was available, but it was a pain in the a.

[dartwing → logronoide]

Thank you! For small sensor, what new device would allow full OS and JavaScript development? What would be consequences of that choice? Shorter battery life?

[fulafel]

Here's a JS that can run on small (64k ram) devices: http://duktape.org/

They also link to other small-footprint JS implementations.

[dartwing → fulafel]

Interesting! Looking... Does it have file system API? It it similar to NodeJS?

[fulafel → dartwing]

No filesystem API, it's quite different from NodeJS.

(NodeJS sits on top of a full featured unix operating system, so it can do all kinds of fancy things)

[dartwing → fulafel]

Got it, thank you, sir.