Beaglebone Black software
Beagle board utilizes Linux operating system. Currently there are many distributions of Linux for embedded system platforms, including proprietary versions for real-time programming. As their baseline they all use Linux kernel. But each distribution contains different tools and configurations that result in quite different user experiences. The main open-source distributions used by the community on the Beagle boards include Debian, Ångström, Ubuntu, and Arch Linux.
When starting with Beaglebone note that it is a computer in practice, that in tern means certain drivers must be installed. Procedure is very much the same as with regular desktop. As mentioned earlier Beagle board is widely supported online, which means that all instructions can be found on internet or official website.
Programming in Beaglebone can be done both by a Linux terminal and by a Cloud9 IDE. The Cloud9 integrated development environment (IDE) is an impressive web based coding platform that supports many different programming languages, including JavaScript, C++, Python etc.
Figure 3: Demonstration of Cloud9 IDE
Important to note is that programming using Cloud9 is done via website. Very useful thing about it is the fact that it runs on Beaglebone. That would in tern mean that this website which is present on figure 3 runs on Beaglebone itself, not on world wide web.
Linux operating system offers a variety of languages one can use in order to achieve functionality that is desired. Languages like JavaScript, Python, C++ are all available simply by importing them. Some Beagle boards have different languages either imported or if not than they have to be download. Broad support community insured availability of everything one needs for starting an advanced project. All libraries are easily imported and exploited thanks to the Beaglebone development community.
With all of that said one can be sure that there is no perfect language for use on Beaglebone. Every language performs differently on different tasks and benchmarks. Language choice is directed by one's programming skills and by one's liking. However if it is desired to develop either real time logging system or some kind of high speed system, than language choice should be guided by performance it offers. With that said taken into consideration tests that were carried out. It can be concluded that C++ is the fastest language, with the best speed and performance. Tests were carried out on a script which had 5 million iterations of algorithm. Results revealed C++ as the best choice when it comes to real time logging and performance where speed is required.
Granted, clock speed and frequency at which CPU is running will also determine speed of the execution. But that would require a modification of the processor in the way one desires. Something that may take unnecessary time, as language choice can deal with speed problems in a way which does not require to much effort or brainpower.