Architecting IoT Solutions on Azure

Chapter 3. How to Try Before You Buy, IoT Edition

After diving deep into the Azure-centric IoT Landscape in the second chapter, it’s understandable if you’re feeling a touch overwhelmed by all the options. So, in this chapter, let me throw you a line to help you find your bearings as you venture into device development for your solution.

It’s good to roll up your sleeves and tinker with new technology to get a feel for real-world scenarios. Starting with software is more approachable than starting with hardware. Not only is it easier to set up and tinker with, but it also won’t break the bank while you experiment. You can employ your computer to simulate an IoT device using a cool combo of simulators, emulators, and virtualization. This paves the way for you to dip your toes into device development waters without committing to fresh hardware. So, get ready to craft a device simulator and prep a device for some hands-on experimentation used throughout this book.

Thinking Through Your Software

In Chapter 2, I described the IoT device nexus, which is the overlap of software, devices, and cloud. The software is the part that tells the hardware what to do. It’s the brains of what your device does. Before you get too far down the road with simulators and the like, it’s good to think about what you want your device to do functionally and detail the kind of data you want to collect with the device. Once you have your head around what you want to do, you can start to tinker. After that, ...