Hello World: Introduction and F´ Terminology

Note: Tutorials can be browsed through our website or through the GitHub repository:
-> Go to the website
-> Go to the GitHub repository

The Hello World tutorial is designed to teach new users the basics of F´ usage, instruct existing users on new command that help in F´ development, and act as the canonical “Hello World” example for F´.

This tutorial walks through the following steps:

1. Creating an F´ Project
2. Creating an F´ Hello World Component
3. Integration and Testing With F´ Deployments

Once finished, users should have a good understanding of the basic development mechanics for working with F´ and then could dive deeper into concepts through the Math Component Tutorial.

F´ Terminology

F´ uses specific terminology to refer to specific parts of the system. This section dives into the basic F´ terminology used in this tutorial and an explanation of how the terminology is used.

Project

An F´ project is a collection of files and folders used to work with F´. At its core, a project is just a folder that can be used to hold F´ code. Projects should specifically exclude the core F´ library to avoid the “clone and own” problem. Rather projects should link-to a version of F´.

This tutorial will create a new MyProject project used to contain the other things created by the tutorial.

Component

An F´ component encapsulates a unit of system behavior. Components use ports to communicate with other components and define commands, events, telemetry channels, and parameters.

This tutorial will create a new HelloWorld component that defines a SAY_HELLO command, Hello event, and GreetingCount telemetry channel. The component only used built-in ports. It does not use custom ports nor parameters.

Port

A port is an interface used to communicate between components. This tutorial only uses built-in ports.

Command

Commands represent actions that a component can execute. Commands can be sent from the ground or via command sequences. Command behavior is defined in a command handler defined in the component’s implementation.

This tutorial defines one command SAY_HELLO with a single argument greeting. This command will be sent via the ground system and will echo the greeting back via the Hello event.

Event

Events represent actions that a component has performed. Events are akin to software log messages. Events are received and displayed by the ground system.

This tutorial defines one event Hello emitted in response to the SAY_HELLO command and containing the same greeting that the command had.

Telemetry Channel

Telemetry channels provide the active state of the component. Each channel represents a single item of state that will be sent to the ground system.

This tutorial defines a single channel GreetingCount that contains the count of the number of SAY_HELLO greeting commands received.

Deployment

Deployments are a single build of F´ software. Each deployment results in one software executable that can be run along with other associated files. Each deployment has a topology that defines the system.

This tutorial will create the HelloWorldDeployment deployment, run this deployment, and test it through the F´ GDS.

Topology

Topologies are networks of connected components that define the software. Multiple instances of a component may be added to the topology.

This tutorial will use a standard command and data handling topology. A single HelloWorld component instance called helloWorld will be added to the standard topology.

Next: Hello World: Creating an F´ Project