Programming with Crestron SIMPL# What it Means for Control Concepts Crestron Programmers
Crestron’s SIMPL# is a conduit for bridging Crestron’s SIMPL programming language with their new 3 Series controller’s native programming language C#. SIMPL# allows developers to create device control modules that SIMPL programmers can integrate, with no additional training, while allowing the module to harnessing the power of Microsoft’s C#.
Why Working with C# Matters
Microsoft’s C# has been around for many years. Modules created with C# allow the use of many stable, well developed libraries. These libraries give the programmer access to network protocols like HTTPS that we once would not be able to do at all with SIMPL. C# also allows us to have luxuries like dynamically sized arrays and data parsers for JSON and XML.
As an example, the SNMP network protocol can be programmed using Crestron SIMPL and SIMPL+ programming languages, but that requires a talented programmer days of development time. With C# using compatible libraries lets you concentrate on device control versus having to create the library and then look at device control, saving many man hours
Developing Modules with Crestron SIMPL#
At Control Concepts, we have recently created modules using SIMPL#. These include our next release of the NuVo P3100 module and the WebSocket server module, available soon on Crestron’s Application Market.
We chose to move away from SIMPL+ for the NuVo P3100 module that will use SIMPL# because of the availability of a JSON parser and the dynamically sized arrays in SIMPL#. These components add more reliability and a better end product, and user experience, for our customer.
The WebSocket server module gives HTML5 developers the power to create cross platform user interfaces that control a Crestron system for a commercial or residential application.
The most exciting aspects of working with SIMPL# include the ability to develop using C# and having the ability to work on the actual control of the products versus having to also re-create libraries. With the time it saves and the power it delivers, our opportunities to get even more creative increase.
