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I need to deploy a dynamic language to a small embedded Linux device, and have difficulty finding the right one: I want to build a small web-application with this language (with a small framework like Sinatra or Camping ) and write some scripts for maintenance.
I would prefer Ruby, as I have some experience in it, but after several days of trying to cross-compile it, I could only build the barebone interpreter, without the libs (miniruby). The problem with it is, that it's just Too Damn Large: more than 1 MB stripped!
What language are you using, and how difficult was it to get it working?
I don't use it personally but lua has a very small footprint.
Dynamic languages are very, very hard to minify. Perhaps tinypy will give you some inspiration for squeezing out more.
I am investigating this myself, and I have found some interesting candidates:
- eLua - An implementation of Lua specifically for embedded devices.
- p14p - Python on a chip.
- Forth - Good old Forth, what more can I say?
I'm using ruby 1.8.7 on a Techbase NPE GPRS modem. It has a 180MHz ARM processor, and has a lot of services already on it (eg Apache, embedded PostgreSQL). Works fairly well, but you need to be aware of a few issues with ruby on it (eg Timeout can cause ruby to SegFault).
Planning to move up to ruby1.9 later in the year...
