Trond Snekvik, Staff Software Engineer at Nordic Semiconductor, discusses developing VSCode extensions and Bluetooth meshes. They talk about wireless technologies, using VS Code as an IDE, multiple cursors in editors, device tree and pin control in Zephyr, NRF Connect SDK and Zephyr integration, and challenges of embedded development on Macs.
Nordic Semiconductor values customer feedback to continuously improve their tools and SDK.
Nordic is actively working on enhancing BLE Mesh samples to help users integrate functionalities into their projects.
Despite being a minority, Nordic prioritizes customer needs and actively seeks feedback to provide a smooth development experience.
Deep dives
Importance of Customer Feedback
The success of Nordic Semiconductor is dependent on the success of their customers. They value customer feedback greatly and encourage users to provide both positive and negative feedback on their tools and SDK. They aim to continuously improve their offerings based on customer input.
Challenges with SDK Samples
The complexity of using functionalities like BLE Mesh in SDK samples can be challenging. Combining and adapting samples into another codebase can be difficult. Nordic recognizes this challenge and is actively working on enhancing the samples and providing better starting points and template applications to help users integrate functionalities into their own projects.
Balancing Priorities and User Needs
Nordic Semiconductor has a majority of firmware developers, and Tron Snackvik, being a software developer, represents a minority in the company. Despite this, Nordic prioritizes customer needs and strives to provide tools and SDKs that satisfy a wide range of users. They actively seek feedback and engagement from their customers to ensure they are addressing their requirements and making their development experience as smooth as possible.
Considerations for Development Setup
As consultants, Christopher and Tron face the challenge of working with various clients who may have different development setups. They adapt by using virtual machines, such as Parallels or VMware, to run different OS environments and toolchains. They also leverage tools like VS Code and remote SSH access to streamline their development workflow. Flexibility and adaptability are key in managing multiple hardware platforms, programmers, and wireless dongles that come with different client projects.
Encouragement to Engage with Tools Team
Tron highlights that the tools team at Nordic Semiconductor welcomes feedback from users. They encourage users to share their experiences, issues, and suggestions to improve their tools and SDKs. Engaging with the tools team allows them to better understand user needs and work towards providing a more effective development experience.