ease of use vs stamp

Lab Rat · 2012-09-30 10:22

so ive been programming with the basic stamp 2 for a long time and was looking at the propeller for the obvious its cheaper resaon and the fact that its clocked wy fasted and can multitask without interfering with other processes.how hard is it to learn to program if since im familar with the stamp?

rwgast_logicdesign · 2012-09-30 11:05

do you know any other launguages? spin is a great launguage. to me it seems like a mix of visual basic and c. I say its likr vb becuase of its support for objects in a non nutty oop purist fashion and can also be used functionally like c.

I LOVE SPIN i was opposed to it at first and started with gcc but once i read through 2 chapters of the PE kit i was hooked I WANT A PC VARIANT of the launguage its so freakin cool and fun to use, forget python.

I declare it is impossible to wrote a spin compiler for .net or gross platform gtk, someone prove me wrong

Lab Rat · 2012-09-30 11:17

i never learned to program in anything other then Pbasic and ladder logic. i at one time could do ladder logic in my sleep lol. i learned basic on my own from a homework board that came in the what is a microcontroller kit so as long as i get a kit that explains it the same way i should be alright. . and i played visual basic for a little i didnt get very far there as i had no application for it lol

kwinn · 2012-09-30 11:20

Should not be too hard to learn Spin or Basic for the propeller. Most of the higher level languages for a micro have similarities in language constructs like "if then else" "call" "for i = 1 to 20" etc. Of course each one has it's quirks as well.

Mike G · 2012-09-30 11:20

so ive been programming with the basic stamp 2 for a long time and was looking at the propeller for the obvious its cheaper resaon and the fact that its clocked wy fasted and can multitask without interfering with other processes.how hard is it to learn to program if since im familar with the stamp?

Like anything, it takes time and practice to learn something new. The learning curve depends on your current experience. IMO, Spin is an easy to learn and the syntax is well documented.

I declare it is impossible to wrote a spin compiler for .net or gross platform gtk, someone prove me wrong

It's not impossible but why? .NET is a bunch of libraries installed on the target PC. Spin targets the propeller. Or do you mean use VS as a editor?

Lab Rat · 2012-09-30 11:22

i just rembmered back in highschool we had to program our robot with a form of c. i never actually wrote the program for c but i did go in and make changes to variables to make things work a little better

Lab Rat · 2012-09-30 11:26

my ultimate plan is to figure out how to program micro processors that i find in things i take apart such as intel processors. ive been trying to figure it out since i was a kid lol. i think im definatly gettting a porp kit of some sort as soon as i get paid so. and since i am not near my mass collection of electronics it will give me more time to play with the basics in the kit and learn to program alot better

Lab Rat · 2012-09-30 11:37

i did have another question do i need to have the eeprom if i use the 8 dollar dip package or can i just reprogram the internal ram everytime i power up?

Leon · 2012-09-30 11:40

You can run from the internal RAM every time.

Lab Rat · 2012-09-30 12:13

another question does a prop have high enough logic voltage to send signal to a servo or do i need to have some sort of external hardware interface

Lab Rat · 2012-09-30 12:17

also again question. does the prop program have the option of the debug window for adjusting variables and telling you stuff from the chip like the stamp did or do i have to purchase the portview program for that?

Duane Degn · 2012-09-30 12:22

Prop can drive servos without additional circuitry.

As Leon said, you can run the Prop without an EEPROM but you'll have to reprogram it each time you cut the power.

PM me your address and I'll send you a couple of EEPROM chips. They make using the Prop much easier.

Lab Rat · 2012-09-30 13:10

i sent you a pm ty

Tracy Allen · 2012-09-30 14:13

Lab Rat wrote: »

also again question. does the prop program have the option of the debug window for adjusting variables and telling you stuff from the chip like the stamp did or do i have to purchase the portview program for that?

The Prop doesn't have a built-in DEBUG command like the one you are used to with BASIC Stamp. Instead, you will add a DEBUG method or object to your Spin program that will serve that same purpose. Then you will use that in almost exactly the same way as you did with the Stamp. Except you will find that you have both more options and control over the output, but you have to do a bit more work to set it up. Here is a simple example using the OBJECT "Parallax Serial Terminal" that comes along as part of the Propeller tool library.

OBJ   
   DEBUG : "Parallax Serial Terminal"    ' an object included in the Propeller Tool library
VAR   
       long myVariable
PUB demo
   DEBUG.start(9600)     ' the object has to be started at a certain baud rate
   WAITCNT(clkfreq/10+cnt)  ' give it time to start
   myVariable := 12345678
   REPEAT
         myVariable++    
         DEBUG.str(string(13,"The value is: "))    ' the string method in the DEBUG object
         DEBUG.dec(myVariable)       ' the decimal method in the DEBUG object

I said there were options. The Parallax Serial Terminal is just one of many options for giving the propeller program terminal debugging or serial i/o capabilities.

Also in the library is the .exe program also called "Parallax Serial Terminal", which is a PC terminal program that is convenient to use in conjunction with the Propeller tool. It is like the Debug window that comes with STAMPW.EXE. You don't need ViewPort for debugging, unless after reading up on it you decide you want the advanced features it offers.

Lab Rat · 2012-09-30 14:25

ty. i will have to try that when i get the kit and start figuring out what everythign there actually means. my programming is alot rusty plus ive never worked with props before

localroger · 2012-09-30 15:08

Spin isn't much like PBasic, but like PBasic Spin was meant as a teaching language and it's very much worth the effort to learn it, because it's a good stepping stone toward more powerful (and more powerful always == more hard to use) environments.

There was a very good tutorial in the v1.0 version of the Propeller manual, which for some reason they removed from the later version; it's on the Parallax site somewhere and well worth looking up if you're wanting to blink some LED's to get a feel for the chip and the dev tools.

Duane Degn · 2012-09-30 19:53

localroger wrote: »

There was a very good tutorial in the v1.0 version of the Propeller manual, which for some reason they removed from the later version; it's on the Parallax site somewhere and well worth looking up if you're wanting to blink some LED's to get a feel for the chip and the dev tools.

I also liked the tutorial in v1.0 of the Propeller Manual. I've been trying to collect links to good tutorials in post #3 of my index (see signature).

I think Parallax shifted the Spin tutorials to the PEK (and Learn.Parallax.com) instead of using the Propeller Manual to as a tutorial.

ease of use vs stamp

Comments