10 Things that make Embedded Java the best for the Internet of Things

The acquisition of Sun Microsystems by Oracle in 2010 has pushed Java more towards enterprises, rather than individual application development. The Java 8 platform includes a specific library suite that targets embedded system programming, thus making up for the lost ground due to lack of specific functionalities in the earlier versions of Java.

Here’s what you need to know about Embedded Java, if you are considering a Java Development Company for your next embedded enterprise application:

1. IoT has marked the start of a new era for Embedded Java.

Embedded systems was the domain of low level languages like C, until the present. However, with IoT (Internet of Things), machine-to-machine (M2M) communication is a real possibility that needs full-fledged application programming with an elaborate user interface. 

Earlier, developers used to program in the language specific to the platform. With Java for embedded systems, developers can leverage the ‘Write once, run anywhere’ paradigm and port the same code to embedded devices with a few tweaks.

2. Embedded Java reduces the time and cost required for application development.

The IDE (NetBeans from Oracle, etc.) for embedded Java development are free of cost, and so are the debugging tools. This makes embedded application programming possible on optimum cost reduction basis. Also, as Java is an open source technology maintained effectively, the quality of development is as good as any paid software development suite.

3. Flexibility and choice according to type of device.

As mentioned above, the ‘write once, run anywhere’ paradigm makes it possible to port embedded Java code on any other device eliminating the overhead in writing separate application code for all target devices – smartphones, tablets, laptops, etc. The full graphics support or headless mode enable rendering of UI elements without affecting the resolution on different screen sizes. Hence, any Java application development company would prefer to leverage the embedded functionalities offered by Java 8 for enterprise application development related to IoT.

4. The most affordable and reliable development language for embedded system development.

Embedded Java comes with extensive graphics support, security, parsing functionality and networking, as well as just-in-time compilation – which if required from a paid embedded development platform, will result in increased development costs. Running on JVM (Java Virtual Machine), the embedded applications are more reliable than platform dependent applications.

5. Embedded Java helps interface with sensors and actuators.

Java has access to open-source libraries that can establish communication with sensors and actuators in the embedded devices rather than requiring the developers to write extensive native code using standards like GPIO, I2C, SPI, etc.

6. Multi-tasking is the key driver in the popularity of Embedded Java.

Most of the embedded programming languages do not support multithreading like Java does. The addition of lambda expressions and streams in Java 8 enables developers to implement functional approaches eliminating the need for explicit loops and mutable states. 

7. Remote debugging in Embedded Java.

IoTs are still evolving, and it can happen that some of them do not have a display. Embedded Java has an extensive set of free tools to allow debugging by accessing the Java Management Extensions (JMX). This can also be done remotely via a network so that developers can control the embedded devices and debug them even through single step mode.

8. Modularity will reduce concerns regarding utilization of Java for embedded application development.

Security has always been a concern in Java, and wrongly so. Although front-end applications are vulnerable to security threats, modularity of coding enables embedded Java to restrict the damage to only the affected module, through a heavily siloed environment.

9. Faster development times, leading to reduced time-to-launch.

The extensive set of libraries, APIs along with the fully equipped development and debugging tools, and the readily available troubleshooting through Java Community Process forums makes it extremely easy for skilled developers to deliver the applications within deadlines – especially as the time-to-launch is crucial in these times of fierce competitions to hit the market first.

10. Automatic memory management leads to better stability of the embedded applications.

Java has always had automatic memory management. Expert developers should know how to leverage the functionality offered by the garbage collector, in order to prevent memory leak-like instances when the code maintains references to an unnecessary object. Hence, the suspicions that Java propagates memory leaks are unfounded. In fact, automatic memory management is a value addition as compared to the manual memory management required by the low level embedded systems languages.