FAQ: Sparkplug

Q: What is Sparkplug in a nutshell?
- A: Sparkplug is a set of definitions on top of MQTT to serve the following purposes:
  - Define a set of topics to ensure state/quality of data be ensured in a backend MQTT client application
  - Define a standard payload format that allows an edge node/device client to communicated with a backend application
  - Define a flow of messages to ensure the state/quality of data.
Q: What is the difference between Sparkplug A and Sparkplug B?
- A: The 'A' and 'B' qualifiers differentiate payload encoding formats. The following points show the similarities and differences between the two:
  - Important note! Sparkplug A has been deprecated and any new projects being created should use Sparkplug B. If you need a copy of the Sparkplug A specification you can contact support@cirrus-link.com to get a copy.
  - Both A and B use the same topic format with a qualifier as the first token in the topic namespace to denote the payload encoding format
  - The message flow of both A and B is the same
  - The only difference is the payload encoding format.
  - Both formats are open source
  - Both are based on Google Protobuf definitions
  - Sparkplug A uses Eclipse Kura's payload definition found here: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/eclipse/kura/develop/kura/org.eclipse.kura.core.cloud/src/main/protobuf/kurapayload.proto
  - Sparkplug B uses an expanded definition allowing for more metadata found here: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Cirrus-Link/Sparkplug/master/sparkplug_b/sparkplug_b.proto

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