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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?

Zoltán Szőcs
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  • See this question for several related options: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1082751/what-are-the-available-interactive-languages-that-run-in-tiny-memory – Mark Rushakoff Apr 26 '10 at 16:12

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I don't use it personally but lua has a very small footprint.

mikerobi
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  • a co-worker of mine has had great success with lua. Depending upon your needs it can get pretty small as well. – Beanish Apr 26 '10 at 15:23
  • I'll second this. Lua is quite easy to get going since it will pretty much compile as ANSI C89 (as either C or C++). Feel free to check out eLua, which also has some patches and modules that make it suitable for microcontroller environments: http://www.eluaproject.net/ (the whole project might not meet your needs, but some of the ideas/patches/code might be useful) – James Snyder May 03 '10 at 04:33
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Dynamic languages are very, very hard to minify. Perhaps tinypy will give you some inspiration for squeezing out more.

Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams
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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?
cdiggins
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  • Just a small update: since then I have successfully compiled & used Ruby, with mixed results: it is fully functional, and it made my life easier implementing the webservice, but on the other side it is fairly slow, and somewhat a memory hog. – Zoltán Szőcs Mar 01 '11 at 15:43
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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...

Steve Gooberman-Hill
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