Bun in IoT Projects

📡 Bun in IoT Projects — Lightweight, Fast, and Ready for Devices

Internet of Things (IoT) development often requires runtime environments that are not only fast but also lightweight and flexible. Bun, known for its performance and minimal overhead, is emerging as a strong candidate for edge computing and IoT applications. In this blog, we’ll explore how Bun can be used in IoT projects, from device communication to real-time data processing. 🛠️

⚡ Why Choose Bun for IoT?

Most IoT devices operate with limited resources. Bun’s core advantages make it a great fit:

• 🚀 Extremely fast startup and execution
• 📦 Smaller bundle size compared to Node.js
• 🧠 Built-in TypeScript support with no transpilation
• 🧰 Built-in HTTP server, file watcher, bundler, and test runner

These benefits make Bun ideal for edge devices and microcontrollers running lightweight Linux OS variants like Raspberry Pi OS, Ubuntu Core, or Alpine.

📶 Setting Up Bun on an IoT Device

Assuming you’re using a Raspberry Pi or similar SBC (Single Board Computer):

curl -fsSL https://bun.sh/install | bash

Verify installation:

bun --version

Now, you're ready to create a Bun project that can talk to sensors or actuators. 🔌

🔄 Communicating with Sensors via Bun

You can use libraries like onoff or pigpio (for Node.js) via Bun’s NPM compatibility layer.

// gpio.ts
import { Gpio } from "onoff";

const led = new Gpio(17, 'out');
led.writeSync(1); // Turns on the LED
setTimeout(() => led.writeSync(0), 1000); // Turns it off after 1 second

Make sure your device has the right permissions (e.g., run with sudo if needed).

📡 MQTT Communication with Bun

MQTT is a common protocol used for IoT devices. Here’s how to connect using Bun:

// mqtt-client.ts
import mqtt from "mqtt";

const client = mqtt.connect("mqtt://broker.hivemq.com");

client.on("connect", () => {
  console.log("✅ Connected to MQTT broker");
  client.subscribe("iot/temperature");
});

client.on("message", (topic, message) => {
  console.log(`🌡️ Received on ${topic}: ${message.toString()}`);
});

This allows real-time bidirectional communication between your IoT device and the cloud ☁️.

📊 Real-Time Data Logging with Bun

Use Bun’s file APIs to log sensor data locally or for diagnostics:

// log.ts
const temperature = 23.5;
const logLine = `Timestamp: ${Date.now()}, Temp: ${temperature}°C\n`;
await Bun.write("logs/temperature.log", logLine, { append: true });

You can later push these logs to a remote server or visualize them on a dashboard.

🖥️ Serve a Dashboard Directly from Your IoT Device

Bun’s native HTTP server makes it easy to expose a local web interface:

// server.ts
Bun.serve({
  port: 3000,
  fetch(req) {
    return new Response("<h1>📈 Temperature Monitor</h1>");
  }
});

Visit http://<device-ip>:3000 on your LAN and boom — instant dashboard! 📺

🔋 Tips for Optimizing Bun in IoT Scenarios

• 🧵 Use async loops with setTimeout instead of tight while-loops to avoid blocking
• 📉 Keep memory usage low by limiting dependency usage
• 📬 Use lightweight protocols (like MQTT) for network communication

🌐 Integrating with Cloud or Edge Platforms

Bun’s fast performance makes it a solid choice as a lightweight edge gateway:

• 📤 Forward sensor data to AWS IoT Core, Azure IoT Hub, or GCP IoT Core
• 📥 Receive remote commands via MQTT or REST
• 🧠 Perform pre-processing locally before sending to the cloud

🔚 Final Thoughts

As the IoT world evolves, speed and efficiency are becoming even more critical. With Bun’s minimal footprint and blazing performance, developers now have a new tool to build smarter and faster devices. Whether you're running real-time analytics or controlling physical hardware, Bun in IoT projects is a game-changer. 🌍🔌