Rebirth: Starting from Lighting Up the Tech Tree

Chapter 96 Developers

On the day the first version of the SDK was launched, Zuo Cheng published an article on the 402 website with a simple title: A Letter to IoT Developers.

The article is short, with only three core points. First, the Starlink Everything Open Platform is officially launched and is free for all developers. Second, the platform provides three core APIs: edge scheduling, device management, and data acquisition, with an end-to-end latency of 9 milliseconds, the lowest in the entire network. Third, the first twenty developers to connect will enjoy three months of free technical support and server resources.

Han Lu posted the article on more than a dozen technical communities and developer forums, and contacted five tech media outlets for coverage. The results were better than expected; on the first day of launch, more than 400 people registered developer accounts, and more than 70 people downloaded the SDK.

"Four hundred people?" Zuo Cheng looked at the data in the backend and was somewhat surprised.

"The main reason is that the article about '9 millisecond latency' went viral in the tech community," Han Lu said. "A prominent influencer shared it, saying it was the first IoT platform in China to open up its edge computing capabilities."

Which influential blogger?

"A tech blogger, whose ID is 'Code on the Fly,' has over 300,000 followers. After reading our technical documentation, he wrote a review, praising our elegant API design, especially the dynamic load balancing module. He said, 'This doesn't seem like something a startup should produce.'"

Zuo Cheng smiled. Dynamic load balancing comes from the optimization of distributed system architecture, something a startup company certainly couldn't do.

"Continue to follow up and see what the developers' feedback is like. The key is to see if anyone has created a practical application."

The next day, Ma Hao came to Zuo Cheng with a report.

"Brother Cheng, the developer feedback has been compiled. The overall feedback is good, but a few issues are quite prominent," Ma Hao said, flipping through the report. "First, the documentation isn't detailed enough; many interfaces lack sample code. Second, the device integration process is too complex, requiring manual parameter configuration. Third, debugging tools are lacking; when problems arise, we can only rely on logs."

Zuo Cheng thought for a moment: "Regarding the documentation, assign two people to write it specifically, with at least three sample codes for each interface. For the device access process, implement an automatic discovery function so that devices are recognized as soon as they are plugged in, without requiring manual configuration. For debugging tools, create an online debugging console so developers can view the data stream in real time in their browser."

"The automatic discovery function is a bit difficult and requires modifications to the protocol layer," Ma Hao said.

"I know. But think about it, if developers can't even connect the devices, how can they possibly create good apps?" Zuo Cheng said. "The lower the barrier to entry, the more developers there will be. The more developers there are, the stronger the ecosystem becomes. This is the flywheel effect."

Ma Hao nodded: "I understand. Give me two weeks, and I'll solve all three problems."

"One week," Zuo Cheng said. "The problems with the first version can't be delayed. The longer it drags on, the faster the developers will leave."

Ma Hao hesitated for a moment, then said, "Okay, I'll get it done in a week."

After Ma Hao left, Zuo Cheng opened the system panel. The cooldown timer for the technology radar had expired, and he could scan again. But now wasn't a good time to use it; people were coming and going in the office, and he needed a quiet environment to be alone.

He turned off the panel and instead checked the status of the leaves on the Internet of Things (IoT) branch. The effects of the technology boost continued, with all IoT-related development efficiency increasing by 20%. This boost was crucial in enabling Ma Hao's team to fix three key issues within a week.

In the afternoon, Han Lu brought a young man to see Zuo Cheng.

"Brother Cheng, this is Lin Yuan, the founder of a startup in Hangzhou that focuses on industrial monitoring. He used our SDK and created a prototype for monitoring factory equipment in just three days."

Lin Yuan was twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, wearing black-rimmed glasses and looking very refined. He stood somewhat nervously in front of Zuo Cheng, holding a laptop in his hand.

"Mr. Zuo, this is Lin Yuan." He turned on his computer. "This is a factory equipment monitoring application I developed using the Starlink platform."

The screen displays a simple monitoring interface, showing the real-time operating status of several devices in chart form. The data refreshes every few seconds, with virtually no noticeable delay.

"How many devices did you connect?" Zuo Cheng asked.

"Eight machines, all injection molding machines," Lin Yuan said. "Previously, we used a traditional solution, with data acquisition latency of at least 500 milliseconds. After connecting to Starlink, it dropped to less than 15 milliseconds. The customer is very satisfied, saying they've never seen such a fast response speed."

15 milliseconds. While slightly higher than the 9 milliseconds of Hangzhou's smart city project, this number is still impressive enough for a third-party developer.

How long did it take you to make this?

"Three days." Lin Yuan said somewhat embarrassedly, "If the document were more detailed, one day might be enough."

Zuo Cheng glanced at Han Lu, who nodded knowingly. The document issue was already being resolved.

"Lin Yuan, would you be willing to be our benchmark case?" Zuo Cheng asked. "We can provide you with free resource support, and you can directly contact our engineers for technical issues. In exchange, you allow us to use your case in our promotional materials."

Lin Yuan's eyes lit up: "Of course I'm willing! I've been worried about not having enough resources to promote it."

"Okay. Han Lu, make the arrangements."

After Han Lu led Lin Yuan out, Zuo Cheng leaned back in his chair, feeling quite satisfied. The first benchmark case had emerged. Although it was just a small application involving only eight devices, it was a beginning. Today it's injection molding machine monitoring; tomorrow it could be the complete digitization of a factory; and the day after, it could be the intelligent transformation of an entire industry.

The flywheel has started to spin.

He picked up his phone and sent Yu Ying a message: "Kongkong, our first developer has completed the application. Industrial monitoring, eight devices, finished in three days."

Yu Ying replied, "Only three days? Then our SDK is pretty good."

"It's thanks to Ma Hao. The SDK framework he led the team to develop is very solid."

"Don't be modest, you designed the architecture."

Zuo Cheng smiled and put down his phone. He did design the architecture, but the inspiration came from the technology tree. However, he would never tell anyone about it.

In the evening, Zuo Cheng received an email. The sender was Zhou Mingyuan from Xingchen Technology, confirming the meeting on Friday afternoon. The email was politely worded, but Zuo Cheng noticed a detail: Zhou Mingyuan mentioned "the combination of brain-computer interfaces and the Internet of Things" in the email, a direction Zuo Cheng had never thought of before.

Brain-computer interfaces. What exactly is StarCraft Technology doing? Is their interest in 402 purely for business cooperation, or do they have other motives?

Zuo Cheng closed the email and didn't reply. "Let's talk when we meet on Friday."

He stood up and walked to the window. The distant horizon was tinged orange-red by the setting sun, and the skyscrapers of Hangzhou cast long shadows in the twilight. 402 was growing rapidly; the flywheel of the open platform had started; the first developer had created the first application; everything was moving in the right direction.

The technology tree is silently driving all of this from behind the scenes, like an invisible hand guiding the way forward.