SimpleIDE: customer reports it is "dead according to forum members"
Ken Gracey
Posts: 7,386
Hey there,
Today our learn@parallax.com e-mail address received an e-mail from a customer who is investing time in SimpleIDE but has the impression that it is unsupported. He says he has this impression from forum postings made by forum members. I can't pinpoint an exact post but recognize that many Spin-saavy people don't care for C.
SimpleIDE is in the middle of a major release upgrade which would provide WiFi support, among other things. Our core product line relies on SimpleIDE and we have many new investments in it, too (like the Flight Controller). We also have new code examples coming for Arlo robot along with some new tutorials like the ELEV-8 V3 lighting control example. Soon we will also release a new library, too.
Thanks,
Ken Gracey
Today our learn@parallax.com e-mail address received an e-mail from a customer who is investing time in SimpleIDE but has the impression that it is unsupported. He says he has this impression from forum postings made by forum members. I can't pinpoint an exact post but recognize that many Spin-saavy people don't care for C.
SimpleIDE is in the middle of a major release upgrade which would provide WiFi support, among other things. Our core product line relies on SimpleIDE and we have many new investments in it, too (like the Flight Controller). We also have new code examples coming for Arlo robot along with some new tutorials like the ELEV-8 V3 lighting control example. Soon we will also release a new library, too.
Thanks,
Ken Gracey
Comments
Jim
Glad to hear a new version of SimpleIDE is coming!
Have you ever noticed that, when you see a photo of yourself, it never seems to look like what you see in the mirror? I certainly have. My mirror image is always more flattering than what I see in photos. That's because I see the mirror image every day, and changes from day to day are so small as to be imperceptible. Photos, OTOH, are less frequent wake-up calls to the reality that I've gained a little weight, that my hair is somewhat grayer than I imagined, and that my wrinkles are more pronounced.
The same can be said about one's corporate image. What you perceive to be true from weekly meetings, advertisements, and announcements is what you see in the mirror that you hold up to yourselves. The forum is more like a photo. It's not always flattering, but a lot can be learned via the few truths distilled from its rough-and-tumble contents.
This is particularly true of SimpleIDE. Although I'm sure that the insider's view of this effort is teeming with good intent and rosy prognostications, it's not always obvious to those on the outside. And, frankly, it has suffered from some rough edges and needless complications that belie the "simple" aspect of its name. So it should not be too surprising that that some have wondered about its viability going forward.
Nonetheless, I'm sure that your news about SimpleIDE's "major release upgrade" will be heartening to many in the Learn community. Just be sure to keep your ear to the ground and to trust what you read on the forum at least as much as what your inside folks tell you.
-Phil
Using your picture analogy, I don't look dead in photos - maybe like a typical middle-aged man but not dead. That's a big difference. At least it'd be a significant exaggeration to say I looked dead unless I was dressed up like a zombie for Halloween.
Anyway, the purpose of this message clearly isn't to change anybody's behavior. It's only to let readers know that SimpleIDE is continually being improved. For those who read the forums I'd like them to know that requests related to SimpleIDE are welcome via e-mail to learn@parallax.com. We reply to every e-mail but often don't have time to read all forum posts.
Now, back to those corporate back-slapping meetings you suggested! Maybe a little committee decision-making will help this, too.
Ken Gracey
Now I've got to start up SimpleIDE to ward off the deer that are nibbling my crocuses! It works: I swear!
-Phil
I base much of my curriculum and teaching business on SimpleIDE, and it was a bit worrying seeing forum threads painting an uncertain future for SimpleIDE.
I do have some changes I'd like to request for SimpleIDE. For example students can sometimes take an example program, edit it, and load it in to the robot, then suddenly that example code is saved in that state. It makes for a huge pain when dealing with so many computers and students at the same time.
Who would I send these observations to, learn@parallax.com ?
I'm not entirely clear, but it sounds like you want source code for demos to be un-editable right? In Linux, that would be as simple as removing the write privileges from that folder/those files.
On windows, you could do the same thing if your users aren't already set as system admins.
Perhaps what you'd like is SimpleIDE to recognize the "Demo" folder and refuse to write changes to that directory?
I think you need to really publicize the Simple IDE and using C on the Prop. I know there is a very loyal core of Spin enthusiasts here, but there is also a much, much larger population of Arduino folks who just learned to program in C. If they think the Prop can only be programmed in Spin, they'll pass right by.
.
I guess the lesson is that no matter how goof-proof a program appears to be, students will find a way to create havoc by misusing it -- usually inadvertently.
-Phil
There is no cure-all, but I've seen IDE's warn when that is about to happen, ( of course, no student allocates any brain cells to warnings, they are for 'someone else')
Some IDEs make 'generate copy' more obvious.
I think the best structure is to make Generate Copy the obvious/default, and to have some protected directory status on the examples dirs.
We welcome your suggestions. You can send an email to education@parallax.com to reach all of us on the education team, or to learn@parallax.com to reach those of us that work with learn.parallax.com (if you have Learn/tutorial-related feedback or suggestions).
Recommendations are logged and discussed at planning meetings on a regular basis.
One lesson I learned while caring for equipment in universities is that nothing is student or professor proof.