How does TCF compare to ECF?
TCF defines the protocol, independent of APIs. ECF defines the APIs, independent of protocol. It’s as simple as that. Or, to be more elaborate: TCF is a “vertical” technology stack: it includes all components needed to communicate with embedded remote systems en-to end. This includes the plain C lightweight target agent, the TCF protocol specification at its core, the Java protocol API as well as 3 example clients. ECF, on the other hand, is a “horizontal” technology: it deals with Eclipse Java APIs for a host of different protocols for any kind of communication needs. ECF wants to unify the usage patterns on the client side, such that protocols are exchangeable. Therefore, the intersection (overlap) of TCF and ECF is on the Java client API, which makes up for about 20% of the TCF contribution. Here are some thoughts on that overlap: • Both TCF and ECF have asynchronous APIs (request/callback and publish/subscribe, respectively). • ECF allows clients to call into the APIs with any thre
