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[1185.94 --> 1192.12] Sentry is an open source error tracking application that shows you every crash in your stack as
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[1214.04 --> 1215.14] And back to the show.
[1232.24 --> 1235.50] We've got some robotics topics to talk about.
[1235.50 --> 1239.74] Now, Rachel, I understand that you're a purveyor of robotics.
[1239.90 --> 1240.86] You like this stuff.
[1241.28 --> 1241.90] I dabble.
[1242.12 --> 1242.70] You dabble.
[1243.54 --> 1245.52] Sometimes you might even have fun doing it.
[1245.56 --> 1246.04] What do you think?
[1246.78 --> 1247.12] Yeah.
[1247.66 --> 1250.90] So I saw the question that was asked.
[1251.38 --> 1258.58] And so the reason that I use JavaScript in robotics is because I know JavaScript.
[1258.58 --> 1269.68] I don't know if I need to get into something that is, you know, a little bit more specific
[1269.68 --> 1270.24] to see.
[1270.38 --> 1273.28] I can work my way around it, but I can't write it from scratch.
[1273.76 --> 1279.54] So basically, like, the reason that I think JavaScript is good for robotics and embedded
[1279.54 --> 1284.70] hardware is because of the community that is involved that is available to the NodeBots
[1284.70 --> 1285.18] community.
[1286.00 --> 1288.52] The Johnny Five site is amazing.
[1288.64 --> 1289.92] The documentation is great.
[1290.42 --> 1296.30] When I say robotics, too, I don't mean, like, very intense, giant things.
[1296.62 --> 1299.34] This is just, like, hobbyist-level stuff.
[1299.34 --> 1305.14] So, like, small little, you know, the sumo bots that can push each other out of circles
[1305.14 --> 1306.48] or play soccer.
[1307.14 --> 1314.50] And it's not like we're not changing the world, like, inventing anything that's going
[1314.50 --> 1319.62] to, like, revolutionize the way that modern machinery is made with JavaScript robotics,
[1319.76 --> 1320.34] I don't think.
[1320.34 --> 1327.72] But I think that it's a really interesting way to help people that are wanting to learn
[1327.72 --> 1329.56] how to write Node.
[1330.18 --> 1336.48] And, you know, maybe they're just not grasping the way that it works with building a single-page
[1336.48 --> 1337.08] application.
[1337.80 --> 1343.74] And I really like the way that the tangibility of, you know, even just taking a breadboard
[1343.74 --> 1349.20] with LEDs and hooking it up to an Arduino and being able to write JavaScript, you can get
[1349.20 --> 1350.02] stuff to happen.
[1350.96 --> 1357.98] Not to mention, like, using LEDs for visualizing different types of loops is really a great
[1357.98 --> 1359.48] way to help understand it.
[1359.56 --> 1363.20] It helped me understand how that kind of stuff was done.
[1363.88 --> 1369.98] In terms of, like, performance-based stuff, obviously, you know, C is going to be faster
[1369.98 --> 1372.02] than Node stuff.
[1372.02 --> 1379.68] But I feel like all of the stuff that I've built hasn't really had any issues with the
[1379.68 --> 1387.34] runtime or any, like, lag of whenever I, you know, do whatever action A triggers action B.
[1387.64 --> 1394.14] So, I mean, the performance differences aren't really big enough to make a difference for
[1394.14 --> 1397.70] that, at least the hobby-level stuff that I do with it.
[1397.70 --> 1397.82] Yeah.
[1398.28 --> 1402.84] Well, and also, I think that there's a little bit of a difference between IoT and robotics,
[1403.10 --> 1403.28] right?
[1403.38 --> 1404.16] Yeah, definitely.
[1404.84 --> 1407.94] Like, a lot of the IoT stuff, like, oh, yeah, you do have these use cases where you need
[1407.94 --> 1411.14] it to be super low power because it's got to be on a little battery for a year.
[1411.42 --> 1415.50] But with robotics, like, you need, you're going to be pretty high power anyway because you're
[1415.50 --> 1418.18] doing these pretty big movements and moving around heavy things.
[1418.18 --> 1422.18] And so that means that you're going to have a higher-powered onboard device and you can run,
[1422.28 --> 1425.48] you know, Node just as well as anything else that runs on that little embedded system.
[1425.48 --> 1426.14] So, yep.
[1426.24 --> 1430.56] It would seem to me, too, that going the route of C versus going the route of JavaScript,
[1430.84 --> 1434.08] one might be a higher slash lower barrier to entry.
[1434.24 --> 1438.52] Like, you might have to have a lot of systems knowledge, maybe a lot of, like, just deeper
[1438.52 --> 1442.44] knowledge about programming that C would require, whereas JavaScript, you can sort of, like,
[1442.46 --> 1443.16] run that anywhere.
[1443.24 --> 1444.68] It's a little bit easier to get involved.
[1445.54 --> 1449.32] Dare I even say maybe a slightly larger, more welcoming community, so it's a little easier
[1449.32 --> 1451.62] to find your place to fit in.
[1452.72 --> 1452.92] Yeah.
[1453.14 --> 1457.52] That seems like a pretty standard thing to think about as well.
[1458.56 --> 1463.44] I think, I mean, so because I came from lower-level languages and I watched kind of higher-level
[1463.44 --> 1470.16] languages take over and really, like, get a lot more people using them than lower-level
[1470.16 --> 1470.56] languages.
[1470.56 --> 1474.50] It's always hilarious to me when people from higher-level languages start to get into lower-level
[1474.50 --> 1480.46] languages, because they really ignore a lot of the things that higher-level languages
[1480.46 --> 1481.34] do for you.
[1481.86 --> 1486.42] Like, it's just so easy to make mistakes in C. Mistakes that, like, will still be compiled
[1486.42 --> 1491.66] and your program will still run, but will, you know, introduce a security vulnerability
[1491.66 --> 1492.98] or a memory leak.
[1493.98 --> 1499.68] It's very hard to make good, reliable programs in CMC++.
[1499.68 --> 1506.60] And that's why we build higher-order languages, so that you can stay within some extra boundaries
[1506.60 --> 1511.00] that will make it not just easier to program, but also easier to not make mistakes.
[1511.80 --> 1518.48] Yeah, I feel like a lot of the libraries that allow people to get started with NodeBots,
[1519.02 --> 1523.86] like, takes the mistake-making part of the process out of it.
[1523.94 --> 1527.00] Like, the mistakes that you're going to make when you're doing it is more likely going to
[1527.00 --> 1531.48] be your wiring than the programs that you're writing, because so much of the sensors and
[1531.48 --> 1534.16] modules that you're using already have the code written.
[1534.36 --> 1538.36] You can pretty much just, like, copy and paste a ton of it, and you're ready to go.
[1538.48 --> 1543.72] And then you just have to, you know, learn a little bit about electricity and how circuits
[1543.72 --> 1548.28] work, and then you can start combining things to make a lot more dynamic stuff.
[1548.28 --> 1555.58] Can we rewind a bit and talk a bit about the chasm or the difference between learning JavaScript
[1555.58 --> 1560.56] in a single-page web application scenario versus, let's say, robotics, where you mentioned
[1560.56 --> 1563.64] interesting things around loops and blinking lights?
[1563.84 --> 1565.22] Why is it different?
[1565.34 --> 1566.48] What's different about it?
[1567.32 --> 1570.14] For me, it's like a learning style thing.
[1570.50 --> 1576.48] Some people are okay with grasping a concept, and some people just really need to visualize