From Mono to Wilderness: Unleashing the Wild Side of .NET in IoT with Bryan Costanich
Feb 9, 2024
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Bryan Costanich, IoT and Wilderness Labs expert, discusses the concept of IoT and the differences between developing for IoT devices and traditional .NET applications. They explore memory constraints and optimizing JSON usage in IoT projects, the benefits of using .NET for IoT development, and the different market segments of IoT. They also discuss the potential of IoT in logistics, the need for IoT devices in a hospital setting, and the use of lab boards for programming and sensor applications.
IoT devices require a different approach to development compared to traditional server, desktop, and mobile applications.
Wilderness Labs aims to enable .NET developers to easily build and maintain hardware in the IoT domain.
Wilderness Labs prioritizes security in IoT devices, ensuring TLS support by default and addressing security concerns.
Deep dives
Understanding IoT and its Differences from Modern .NET Applications
This podcast episode explores the concept of IoT (Internet of Things) and its differences from developing modern .NET applications. The speaker defines IoT as connected devices that are typically small and embedded, powered by microcontrollers or mini-computers like Raspberry Pi. The discussion emphasizes that IoT devices require a different approach to development compared to traditional server, desktop, and mobile applications. The episode highlights the importance of understanding the unique challenges and considerations when building systems for IoT devices.
Introduction to Wilderness Labs and their Mission
This section introduces Wilderness Labs, a company founded by Brian Costenci, and its mission to enable .NET developers to build and maintain hardware as easily as web or mobile development. The speaker discusses how Wilderness Labs was started to bring .NET skills and ecosystem to the emerging era of IoT, allowing developers to create physical things by bridging the gap between .NET and the hardware space. The episode highlights the goal of making hardware development as fast and easy as modern .NET application development, while enabling .NET developers to work in the IoT domain.
The Connection Between Mono, Xamarin, and Wilderness Labs
In this part of the podcast, the speaker explains the connection between Mono, Xamarin, and Wilderness Labs. Mono, an open-source .NET runtime for Linux, was initially created by Miguel de Icaza and eventually merged with .NET after Xamarin was acquired by Microsoft. Wilderness Labs continues this lineage by running full .NET on microcontrollers, providing developers with the capabilities of .NET for hardware development. The conversation highlights the use of the Mono .NET unified platform and its compatibility with .NET Standard 2.1 and .NET Core 3.1 runtimes to build IoT applications.
The Importance of Security in IoT
This segment emphasizes the criticality of security in IoT, highlighting the historical lack of security in IoT devices. Unlike many IoT platforms, Wilderness Labs places a high priority on security, ensuring that TLS support is available by default. The speaker explains how security is a key consideration due to the nature of Wilderness Labs' customers working in critical infrastructure, defense, and enterprise contexts. The discussion differentiates Wilderness Labs' secure design approach from the prevailing lack of security in many existing IoT devices and platforms, underlining the importance of addressing security concerns in IoT development.
Getting Started with IoT using Wilderness Labs
This section provides guidance on how to get started with IoT using Wilderness Labs. The episode recommends visiting the Wilderness Labs website and exploring their store to obtain a development kit or project lab. The project lab is highlighted as an IoT-in-a-box solution with onboard sensors, I/O, and compatibility with various peripheral connectors. Listeners are encouraged to start building their IoT projects, leveraging the available documentation, community resources, and the Wilderness Labs Slack community for support and guidance. The speaker concludes by sharing the excitement of seeing IoT making positive impacts in various domains, from industrial productivity gains to democratizing resource access and sustainability efforts.
Welcome to The Modern .NET Show! Formerly known as The .NET Core Podcast, we are the go-to podcast for all .NET developers worldwide and I am your host Jamie "GaProgMan" Taylor.
In this episode, I spoke with Bryan Costanich about both IoT and Wilderness Labs. We discussed what IoT actually is, and the many differences between developing systems for IoT devices and developing modern .NET applications which run on servers, desktops, and mobile phones.
Yeah, you know, it's funny. It's one of those terms that is so broad and encompassing. I mean, really "Internet of things." So things that are connected to the Internet and really, what does that mean? Is your TV an IoT device? Well, maybe. Is your car an IoT device? A lot of these cars today are connected to the Internet. In our world. And I think colloquially what folks generally accept as IoT are non standard compute devices that are typically embedded. So they're often small and deployed to the field generally that are connected devices, right? Typically this means an embedded device, a device that is powered by, like a microcontroller, sometimes a Raspberry Pi -which is really just a small computer. But generally anything that is what we think of a thing connected things or small devices.
—Bryan Costanich
So let's sit back, open up a terminal, type in dotnet new podcast and we'll dive into the core of Modern .NET.
Music created by Mono Memory Music, licensed to RJJ Software for use in The Modern .NET Show
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