Tesla Needs an Army of Developers!

[sp4rk]

I seem to recall a video review somewhere here ... posted it feels like 3 months ago, narrated by someone in Apple software? ... showing us where Fisker development was with their central console.

They seemed to be in far worse shape than Tesla ... (and I am not one to criticize Fisker ... I want good news out there for ALL EV's)

But not having seen either, (aside from Tesla test drive) ... what do I know?

[Alpha]

I'm also a software developer. I am personally interested in building apps for the Model S - I have several killer ideas. I asked both @elonmusk and @TeslaMotors on twitter about developing apps and (not surprisingly) got no answers (they probably only get about a million tweets a day after all!) I have seen on several videos and other sources that they definitely are planning to build an app infrastructure a la Apple, but let's remember this car was developed in record time - so I'm sure there are quite a lot of rough edges to iron out - probably in 6 months or less the software will be a lot better and more stable and I'm sure the app infrastructure, API, SDK etc. will emerge sometime after that...

[Brian H]

I'm just a good 'ol boy who loves EV's. What's an SDK please?

Software development kit, comprising tools and guidelines specific to the program or product that is to be enhanced or added to.

[Norbert]

I am a software engineer and predicted this in other threads. They should have used Android.

That said, if they insist on building it all from scratch then they are doing it the right way: implement the bare minimal required to be functional, then iterate quickly. See Agile Software Development.

I've heard they are using the Qt framework. While I don't know much about either Android or Qt, it seems Qt is large framework and also allows use of the Linux libraries. So I wouldn't know which areas need to be created "from scratch", compared to Android.

I'm sure that they could use more resources, who couldn't? But much larger more sophisticated systems have been built by a team of 5. Throwing bodies at a problem is rarely (if ever) the best bang for your buck.

They seem to have a good base to build on, I think we'll see feature delivery accelerate as they move away from building infrastructure (the stuff you never see) and on to just adding functionality. Remember there are probably several person years worth of an iPhone and Android app that we have yet to see.

Yes, it seems the missing parts are more in the area of additional functionality, as opposed to basic infrastructure. (Except perhaps for the smart phone remote access apps, which however seem to be in the "working prototypes" phase already.) I'd expect they will increase the team size as Tesla becomes more profitable.

But we've discussed that thoroughly elsewhere.

Where? Could you provide a link?

[Vexar]

I'm just a good 'ol boy who loves EV's. What's an SDK please?

Software Development Kit. Sorry. Programmers are used to acronyms. It's a set of information on how to write computer programs for the car, and it typically makes the computer programs easy to write.

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I am a software engineer and predicted this in other threads. They should have used Android.
...
Again, had they used Android they wouldn't have had this problem. But we've discussed that thoroughly elsewhere.

A Java-centric Linux operating system? You really think that is energy-efficient and snappy? I love how responsive the user interface is. No, not consistent and efficient on Android. They went with an embedded Linux distro on C/C++ for a reason. I don't know what they chose, but I'm sure they will be remembered as having chosen wisely.
Here's a Tesla job to review. No proof they are actually needing a Linux platform, but they may be saying this is an easier skill to find and they will train the engineer on the OS rather than disclose its details.

If it had been up to me, I would have gone with QNX and made sure to license the support for Bluetooth stack, 802.11 support, GPRS, etc.

Java is the new Fortran: popular, ubiquitous, and bifurcated. I code in it all the time. It just isn't fast enough for the fastest family car in the world!

[brianman]

@Brianman says there's an SDK forthcoming before the sun explodes.

Many sites reported that it was announced in March 2011.
- Bing

March 2011
Highlights

Full speech?


I didn't hear it in the video, but I was only half paying attention (forum was distracting ).

[Alpha]

Check this out!

Exclusive: Hands-On With the Tesla Model S 4.0 | Autopia | Wired.com

[Robert.Boston]

It's just so hard finding any decent coders who'd want to live near Palo Alto, though....

[Citizen-T]

Software Development Kit. Sorry. Programmers are used to acronyms. It's a set of information on how to write computer programs for the car, and it typically makes the computer programs easy to write.

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A Java-centric Linux operating system? You really think that is energy-efficient and snappy? I love how responsive the user interface is. No, not consistent and efficient on Android. They went with an embedded Linux distro on C/C++ for a reason. I don't know what they chose, but I'm sure they will be remembered as having chosen wisely.
Here's a Tesla job to review. No proof they are actually needing a Linux platform, but they may be saying this is an easier skill to find and they will train the engineer on the OS rather than disclose its details.

If it had been up to me, I would have gone with QNX and made sure to license the support for Bluetooth stack, 802.11 support, GPRS, etc.

Java is the new Fortran: popular, ubiquitous, and bifurcated. I code in it all the time. It just isn't fast enough for the fastest family car in the world!

The idea that Java is slow is a myth left over from the early days when it was slow. I've never met a C++ program that I could out perform with a Java program. I convinced my computer graphics prof in college to switch to Java because I did a project in Java instead of C++ and it was the fastest of anyone's including the prof.

Besides if you really feel that way Android does allow you to write native code too. So that's not an excuse to sacrifice working tested features like Bluetooth and the best navigation and maps on the planet.

[Vexar]

The idea that Java is slow is a myth left over from the early days when it was slow. I've never met a C++ program that I could out perform with a Java program. I convinced my computer graphics prof in college to switch to Java because I did a project in Java instead of C++ and it was the fastest of anyone's including the prof.

Besides if you really feel that way Android does allow you to write native code too. So that's not an excuse to sacrifice working tested features like Bluetooth and the best navigation and maps on the planet.

Tell you what, why don't we spare everyone else an NP-incomplete debate about language efficiencies? If you would like to know what I'm done talking about, read this fine article at Intel. I have always found that disagreeing with someone politely and giving them information to pursue on their own is more effective than actually arguing with them. Java wasn't around when I went to college.

Also, to be clear, I meant efficient and snappy, not slow/fast. Some of the fastest machines in the world run Java: Sun Oracle Exalogic.

Technical huffing and puffing aside, a real reason, I suggest, that Tesla Motors dropped any notion of Android like a bad habit was that Oracle inherited the Sun lawsuit against Google over the Android JVM, which allegedly contained stolen, proprietary code. Tesla Motors knew enough to stay clear of that big-dog Silicon Valley brawl.

JB Straubel probably said the most about things here.