You know, these things. I assume they run on some old computer language/framework, anyone know what that might be?
You know, these things. I assume they run on some old computer language/framework, anyone
Share
Sign Up to our social questions and Answers Engine to ask questions, answer people’s questions, and connect with other people.
Login to our social questions & Answers Engine to ask questions answer people’s questions & connect with other people.
Lost your password? Please enter your email address. You will receive a link and will create a new password via email.
Please briefly explain why you feel this question should be reported.
Please briefly explain why you feel this answer should be reported.
Please briefly explain why you feel this user should be reported.
You know, these things. I assume they run on some old computer language/framework, anyone know what that might be?
The displays themselves are pretty basic, they (in most cases) just have a microcontroller with some firmware that allows them to convert commands they get serially into patterns and/or characters. The more recent ones also give feedback regarding broken LEDs for example. Typically these firmwares are written either in assembly or C.
The real intelligence of these systems is often located in a central control system that coordinates an entire city or even a state. These control systems can perform intelligent tasks on entire groups of signs like given the location of an accident, they add the correct distance to the accident to the warning message, automatically divert traffic, and so on.
I know of such systems written in C, C++, Java, G2, … Depends on the moment they were designed. So no, they’re not by definition outdated and antique! They do tend to have a longer lifespan than your average desktop app though which often leads to the oldest parts being swapped out for more recent developments and these newer modules will in many cases be based on more recent technologies.