[cf-dev] Replacing the element-connector with Netty -- thoughts?

["Kovatsch Matthias" <kovatsch@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi all

I have been thinking about getting rid of the element-connector since I created it. It was introduced to decouple Scandium from Californium, so that it can be used as stand-alone DTLS implementation. Netty [1] is a powerful framework that provides something similar (actually much more). While getting rid of the custom element-connector, it might also lead to a performance gain.

Since Simon Lemay is now working on the TCP/TLS binding, it appears to be a good time to start with the replacement. Simon checked that Netty is also supported by Android and runs on the Raspberry Pi.

Any comments? Does anyone have experience with Netty, maybe situations where it actually did not fit?

For the long-term, it might also help for DTLS. Netty does not have DTLS yet, but I would say they need it. Scandium is by no means a high-performance implementation and still requires lots of work, in particular for testing and security analysis. But maybe we can get more contributors or an alternative that is better for both communities!

Ciao
Matthias

[1] http://netty.io/