Using Espruino with Node.js

[espruino-discuss3]

Posted at 2020-09-28 by user118601

With no experience in Python or C++, I thought about giving Espruino a try as I'm more experienced in JavaScript and Node.js. But I just wanted to hear with you guys if it's even possible to run a Node.js app on the Espruino?

[espruino-discuss3]

Posted at 2020-09-29 by @gfwilliams

Hi,

I think it depends on what sort of thing you mean. If it's a single file Node.js script then yes, it'll probably be ok. However if you're using a bunch of external modules then probably not - since by themselves they will use up more memory than is available in the microcontroller.

Basically if you're hoping to take exactly the same code that runs on a PC with 8GB of RAM and run it on a microcontroller with 0.000064GB RAM then you'll probably be disappointed, but if you're willing to make a few small changes then you can still use a bunch of the Node.js stuff you're used to - Promises, arrow functions, regex/etc and get them running on a microcontroller.

I'd definitely recommend you start off trying to write your first bits of code for Espruino from scratch though. If you start off trying to port something before you've got a feel for it you may hit issues.

If you want to have a quick play it might be worth checking out the Bangle.js emulator: https://www.espruino.com/ide/emulator.html

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Posted at 2021-01-09 by user118601

Thank you for the info! I'll definitely try the emulator out!