K
Kathleen Martin
Guest
Software application developers are often thought of as loners, mavericks and reclusive types, fond of working in solitary environments — if there were a parallel for life out on the edge, programmers would already embody it, giving software engineers a natural affinity for coding in edge computing environments.
All developers are the same. It’s a contentious statement, but at least it does apply if we agree that all software application developers are creatures of habit: They all have an exhaustive approach to detail, they share a naturally analytical brain type adept at problem solving, and most have a slightly unnerving predilection for soda and pizza.
But of course, all developers are not the same. Some are focused on upper “presentation layer” interfaces, some are networking specialists, some are core platform gurus focused on functionality and performance, while still others are systems architects, penetration testers, data science champions and so on.
But developers are not only classified by nature of their engineering specialism, they are also distinguished by virtue of the implementation surface that their work is applied to. Some will focus on smartphones, some on desktops, some on embedded systems and some on cloud-native applications that could potentially span every domain.
Embedding the evolving edge
Within that last cadre of coders, we find the oft-unloved embedded computing stalwarts. Close in mindset to edge developers, embedded developers are not quite the same, as they have had their role quite historically defined to focus on everything from home heating systems to fitness trackers and perhaps even your television remote control.
But as we know, those embedded devices themselves are now straddling the Internet of Things. Airport kiosk computers are processing in real-time, in-car systems are now hooked up to a web connection, transit and fare collection machines have an intermittent link to the cloud, and factory robots and medical systems now operate in an always-on, always-connected data plane.
Some embedded computing will still be known as embedded computing, but many of these devices — and, specifically, the sensors and gauges within them — will now form the structure of what we refer to as the computing edge. This is how edge is different to embedded and different to distributed computing. These are not just machines that are moving out of the data center, these are machines doing a specific job.
Continue reading: https://www.techrepublic.com/article/edge-computing-developer/
All developers are the same. It’s a contentious statement, but at least it does apply if we agree that all software application developers are creatures of habit: They all have an exhaustive approach to detail, they share a naturally analytical brain type adept at problem solving, and most have a slightly unnerving predilection for soda and pizza.
But of course, all developers are not the same. Some are focused on upper “presentation layer” interfaces, some are networking specialists, some are core platform gurus focused on functionality and performance, while still others are systems architects, penetration testers, data science champions and so on.
But developers are not only classified by nature of their engineering specialism, they are also distinguished by virtue of the implementation surface that their work is applied to. Some will focus on smartphones, some on desktops, some on embedded systems and some on cloud-native applications that could potentially span every domain.
Embedding the evolving edge
Within that last cadre of coders, we find the oft-unloved embedded computing stalwarts. Close in mindset to edge developers, embedded developers are not quite the same, as they have had their role quite historically defined to focus on everything from home heating systems to fitness trackers and perhaps even your television remote control.
But as we know, those embedded devices themselves are now straddling the Internet of Things. Airport kiosk computers are processing in real-time, in-car systems are now hooked up to a web connection, transit and fare collection machines have an intermittent link to the cloud, and factory robots and medical systems now operate in an always-on, always-connected data plane.
Some embedded computing will still be known as embedded computing, but many of these devices — and, specifically, the sensors and gauges within them — will now form the structure of what we refer to as the computing edge. This is how edge is different to embedded and different to distributed computing. These are not just machines that are moving out of the data center, these are machines doing a specific job.
Continue reading: https://www.techrepublic.com/article/edge-computing-developer/
