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PlatformIO VS termbox

Compare PlatformIO VS termbox and see what are their differences

PlatformIO logo PlatformIO

Next-generation IDE for IoT

termbox logo termbox

Termbox is a library that helps making terminal-based pseudo-GUIs.
  • PlatformIO Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-04
  • termbox Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-23

PlatformIO features and specs

  • Cross-Platform Support
    PlatformIO provides a unified environment that can be used on Windows, macOS, and Linux, making it versatile for developers who work across different operating systems.
  • Library Management
    PlatformIO has a built-in library management system that helps to manage dependencies easily, including automatic library updates and versioning.
  • Integrated Debugging
    It offers integrated debugging capabilities for a wide range of microcontrollers, which simplifies the process of troubleshooting and fine-tuning code.
  • IDE Integration
    PlatformIO is compatible with popular IDEs such as Visual Studio Code, Atom, and Eclipse, allowing developers to work within their preferred environments.
  • Extensive Board Support
    The platform supports a wide variety of development boards and microcontrollers, providing flexibility for various types of projects.
  • Continuous Integration
    PlatformIO can easily be integrated with CI/CD pipelines, which helps in automating the build and deployment process.
  • Community and Documentation
    There is a strong community and comprehensive documentation available, which can be very helpful for troubleshooting and learning.

Possible disadvantages of PlatformIO

  • Steep Learning Curve
    For beginners, the multitude of features and configurations can be overwhelming, leading to a steep learning curve.
  • Performance Issues
    Some users report performance issues, such as slow IDE performance, especially when dealing with large projects.
  • Complex Configuration
    The configuration files (`platformio.ini`) can become quite complex, particularly for advanced projects, which may be challenging to manage.
  • Limited GUI Options
    It lacks a full-fledged graphical interface for some advanced settings and debugging options, relying more on configuration files and command line.
  • Dependency on External Tools
    PlatformIO relies on various external tools and plugins, which sometimes may lead to compatibility issues or additional overhead in setting up the development environment.
  • Less Native Support
    While it supports many third-party boards and environments, official support and updates may lag behind native tools specifically provided by those third parties.

termbox features and specs

  • Cross-Platform Support
    Termbox is designed to work on multiple operating systems, including Linux, Windows, and macOS, making it a versatile choice for developers who need to target various environments.
  • Simple API
    The library offers a straightforward API that allows developers to easily create text-based user interfaces without dealing with complex low-level terminal handling.
  • Minimal Dependencies
    Termbox is a lightweight library with minimal dependencies, which makes it easy to integrate into projects without having to manage a large dependency tree.
  • Event Handling
    Provides a robust event system to handle keyboard, mouse, and resize events, enabling developers to create interactive terminal applications with ease.

Possible disadvantages of termbox

  • Limited Feature Set
    While Termbox is simple to use, it may lack some advanced features found in more comprehensive terminal libraries, limiting its suitability for more complex applications.
  • Maintenance Status
    As of the latest updates, the project may not be actively maintained, which could lead to issues with compatibility or unresolved bugs over time.
  • Lacks High-Level Components
    Termbox does not provide high-level UI components like buttons or menus, which means developers might need to implement these themselves for more sophisticated interfaces.
  • Unicode and Character Encoding
    Handling of Unicode and character encoding can be challenging, and developers might need to perform additional work to support internationalization and ensure correct rendering.

Analysis of PlatformIO

Overall verdict

  • Overall, PlatformIO is highly regarded in the development community for its flexibility, extensive feature set, and support for a wide range of development boards and microcontrollers. It is considered an excellent choice for developers looking to streamline their development process across different platforms.

Why this product is good

  • PlatformIO is often considered good because it is an open-source ecosystem for IoT development with cross-platform build systems, library management, and support for multiple environments and boards. It integrates well with popular IDEs like VSCode, offering a unified development experience with features like automatic code completion, debugging, and unit testing. Its extensive library of packages and tools simplifies the process of managing dependencies and configurations.

Recommended for

    PlatformIO is recommended for embedded systems developers, IoT engineers, and hobbyists who need a versatile and robust development environment. It is especially beneficial for those who work with multiple microcontroller platforms and require an IDE with comprehensive tooling support.

PlatformIO videos

#264 PlatformIO for Arduino, ESP8266, and ESP32 Tutorial

More videos:

  • Review - A Better Arduino IDE - Getting Started with PlatformIO

termbox videos

No termbox videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

Add video

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to PlatformIO and termbox)
IDE
74 74%
26% 26
Text Editors
100 100%
0% 0
URL Shortener
0 0%
100% 100
Electronics
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, PlatformIO seems to be a lot more popular than termbox. While we know about 56 links to PlatformIO, we've tracked only 2 mentions of termbox. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

PlatformIO mentions (56)

  • 13 yo "Vibe Coding" on Raspberry Pi and Arduino
    We searched for other IDEs that would be simple to use, allow easy import of Arduino libraries, and upload the code on the board. I wanted something of the like of Atom editor, but it was not supported on Raspberry Pi (and deprecated now). We found that PlatformIO could be an option. It is a plugin in VSCode that can manage many type of boards. We went ahead, installed VScode, then the PlatformIO extension. We... - Source: dev.to / 2 months ago
  • Help Needed with Tauri Desktop App for NFC Card Enrollment on ESP32
    For the ESP32 in read mode, we've successfully developed a project using PlatformIO that accepts the key during build time and stores it in memory. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • It's 2023 why embedded development is so cumbersome?(rant)
    Check out Zephyr OS and Platform IO. Zephyr is part of the Linux foundation and has similarities to Linux with how it performs hardware abstraction (device tree). Platform IO integrates with other frameworks including mbed and Arduino. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Debug program using PlatformIO and avr-stub
    PlatformIO together with avr-stub can be used to do source level debugging but there are some caveats. Source: about 2 years ago
  • Do you know some sbc or soc that can be programed to run rtos and c++ on top?
    Look into https://platformio.org/, it can abstract over a few RTOSes, and can show you which OSes work with which chips/boards. Source: about 2 years ago
View more

termbox mentions (2)

  • Writing TUI with Ratatouille
    Most answers were a code-golf style with writing the full functionality in least number of lines of code. I took a different approach. Since some time already I wanted to try out Ratatouille - an Elixir toolkit for writing TUI (Terminal UI), based on termbox. - Source: dev.to / almost 2 years ago
  • I looking for a TUI liberary/framework with good aesthetics.
    If you want to go lower-level, then I would recommend against ncurses, and instead start with notcurses or termbox. termbox has lots of language bindings, but the author is no longer maintaining it. Still, not a bad place to start from. If you do decide to get into ncurses, this doc can get you over some of the humps with keyboard/screen/mouse. Source: over 3 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing PlatformIO and termbox, you can also consider the following products

Arduino IDE - Arduino is an open-source electronics prototyping platform based on flexible, easy-to-use hardware...

ncurses - ncurses (new curses) is a programming library that provides an API which allows the programmer to...

Visual Micro - Arduino IDE for Visual Studio and Atmel Studio

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embedXcode - embedXcode is a template for Xcode.

Slang - Slang is a powerful visual programming language using a newly developed stream-based paradigm.