Posted by Jim Wilkins on December 4, 2012, 4:25 pm
> I don't mind the pseudo C,and the Arduino is gaining traction.
I like the quick and easy Arduino c compiler too, but it encourages
writing and testing in short pieces which can eat into the program
memory's limited write cycle life.
I don't like the low A/D converter resolution for serious
experimenting.
jsw
Posted by mike on December 4, 2012, 6:53 pm
On 12/4/2012 8:25 AM, Jim Wilkins wrote:
>>
>> I don't mind the pseudo C,and the Arduino is gaining traction.
>>
> I like the quick and easy Arduino c compiler too, but it encourages
> writing and testing in short pieces which can eat into the program
> memory's limited write cycle life.
I'm sure professional C programmers don't have the problem...but
for the occasional hobby program, I like BASIC-like languages.
If I have the algorithm right, I can usually make it work easily
with BASIC. With C, I spent more time being hassled by the compiler
than I did debugging the algorithm. I exceeded my frustration
limit and attention span.
I went back to BASIC.
Yes, it's clearly my fault, but the result is the same.
> I don't like the low A/D converter resolution for serious
> experimenting.
.
With the breadboards and single-layer PCBs that fall within my
attention span, I find that 10-bits is more than sufficient resolution
to measure the system noise. ;-)
> jsw
Posted by Jim Wilkins on December 4, 2012, 8:00 pm
> On 12/4/2012 8:25 AM, Jim Wilkins wrote:
>> ...
> I'm sure professional C programmers don't have the problem...but
> for the occasional hobby program, I like BASIC-like languages.
> If I have the algorithm right, I can usually make it work easily
> with BASIC. With C, I spent more time being hassled by the compiler
> than I did debugging the algorithm. I exceeded my frustration
> limit and attention span.
Agreed. I started with Pascal on a mainframe, then wrote a lot of
QBasic under DOS on the lab test systems I mentioned. QBasic has
nearly the same structure as c but it's wordier and requires explicit
definitions of functions and variable types, which makes it easier to
understand and modify two months later if you aren't a full-time
programmer.
I'm still looking for a good open-source replacement for QBasic with
its simple power and interpret/compile flexibility and a real Windows
interface. Visual Basic dropped the INP and OUT statements that talk
to the hardware registers, so I can't write low-level device drivers
in it.
jsw
Posted by mike on December 4, 2012, 8:31 pm
On 12/4/2012 12:00 PM, Jim Wilkins wrote:
>> On 12/4/2012 8:25 AM, Jim Wilkins wrote:
>>> ...
>>
>> I'm sure professional C programmers don't have the problem...but
>> for the occasional hobby program, I like BASIC-like languages.
>> If I have the algorithm right, I can usually make it work easily
>> with BASIC. With C, I spent more time being hassled by the compiler
>> than I did debugging the algorithm. I exceeded my frustration
>> limit and attention span.
> Agreed. I started with Pascal on a mainframe, then wrote a lot of
> QBasic under DOS on the lab test systems I mentioned. QBasic has
> nearly the same structure as c but it's wordier and requires explicit
> definitions of functions and variable types, which makes it easier to
> understand and modify two months later if you aren't a full-time
> programmer.
> I'm still looking for a good open-source replacement for QBasic with
> its simple power and interpret/compile flexibility and a real Windows
> interface.
Not clear what you seek. I switched my non-gui stuff to freebasic.
It has a real windows interface, but doesn't create an app with a
Windows GUI.
The base program is spartan, but fbide.exe is the GUI you want.
Gambas3 looks interesting. It can create a windows GUI (small w) but
runs on linux.
Visual Basic dropped the INP and OUT statements that talk
> to the hardware registers, so I can't write low-level device drivers
> in it.
Have you tried this?
http://hem.passagen.se/tomasf/UserPort/
I can't recall whether I've tried it with win7, but it worked well in XP
when called from VB6.
> jsw
Posted by Curbie on December 5, 2012, 2:33 am
On Tue, 4 Dec 2012 15:00:11 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
>> On 12/4/2012 8:25 AM, Jim Wilkins wrote:
>>> ...
>>
>> I'm sure professional C programmers don't have the problem...but
>> for the occasional hobby program, I like BASIC-like languages.
>> If I have the algorithm right, I can usually make it work easily
>> with BASIC. With C, I spent more time being hassled by the compiler
>> than I did debugging the algorithm. I exceeded my frustration
>> limit and attention span.
>Agreed. I started with Pascal on a mainframe, then wrote a lot of
>QBasic under DOS on the lab test systems I mentioned. QBasic has
>nearly the same structure as c but it's wordier and requires explicit
>definitions of functions and variable types, which makes it easier to
>understand and modify two months later if you aren't a full-time
>programmer.
>I'm still looking for a good open-source replacement for QBasic with
>its simple power and interpret/compile flexibility and a real Windows
>interface. Visual Basic dropped the INP and OUT statements that talk
>to the hardware registers, so I can't write low-level device drivers
>in it.
>jsw
Jim,
It's a BIG programming No-No, to address hardware directly in Windows,
you're support to API calls, I may still have a VB serial port API
Library laying around somewhere on my system if you're interested in
it.
Curbie