Re: Platform Neutral xPL (was PC to RS485 bridge)

[Gerry Duprey <gerry@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Howdy,

> If Java is required, then you can leave me out of the equation. I have
> absolutely no knowledge of Java at all.

No, I don't think Java is required at all.  It's just one of several
platform
neutral development environments with xPL support.  There is also a perl
one
and I think Python.  There are other platform neutral languages (like Ruby,
PHP, etc) that could be used too, but currrently do not have any xPL APIs
written yet (that I know of).

> But, Having a piece of software that supports one platform is better
than
> having nothing at all!

Yes and no (IMHO, of course).  Yes in the obvious sense -- at least some
folks
can use it.  However, if it's an important piece of software (like a hub,
or
something like xPLHal or a RS485 gateway), the problem is that if written
for
a single platform but needed on multiple platform, there will eventually be
multiple implementations and as such, it's likely they will be in some
small
(or large ways) different or incompatible.  Then a commonly needed function
is
going to have "gotchas" depending on what platform it runs on.

> Note - I have not seen anybody put up their hand for the PC interface
yet.

Yeah, I know :-).  I actually have code in my Java framework for supporting
multiple media types (Ethernet, RS232, RS485, whatever).  Only the ethernet
code is fleshed out right now.  My intent was as soon as I had a need (i.e.
equipment that used the protocol that I could use), I'd probably write a
driver myself.  But as of today, I don't have and RS485 stuff, so writing a
driver would be difficult to test.

Gerry
--
Gerry Duprey
Ann Arbor, MI 48103
http://www.cdp1802.org


xPL Links: http://www.xplproject.org.uk http://www.xplhal.com http://www.xpl.myby.co.uk
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