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BlocklyProp programming from a Chromebook — Parallax Forums

BlocklyProp programming from a Chromebook

Ken GraceyKen Gracey Posts: 7,392
edited 2017-06-20 18:03 in General Discussion
Hey all,

Here's a quick progress video showing that Parallax can download Blockly programs from a Chromebook. Our internal development team of Jeff, Matt and Jim have really done very well with this project. They've worked closely together and each of them brought a key piece to the project - our customers will be very thankful for their efforts when the Fall arrives. And very quietly - hush - Parallax is meeting all the checkboxes that presently can't be met by other educational systems. Those requirements include:

(x) Chromebook support
(x) Robotics kits, under $200 in a one student per kit model
(x) COPPA compliance (coming in July!)
(x) Curriculum and assessment material
(x) Professional development courses
(x) Available to schools via Amazon PRIME
(x) Track record, warranties and American manufacturing

Wow, to be a student today!

Ken Gracey

Comments

  • VonSzarvasVonSzarvas Posts: 3,450
    Now that's a very proud looking Mr Gracey!

    Way to go JMJ !

    Now if only I could prise the ChromeBook back from a certain daughter..... hmm.... The look says "not today, no way, Jose!"
  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,230
    That's excellent. Must get me a Chrome book.

    Now what about Spin...
  • Ken GraceyKen Gracey Posts: 7,392
    edited 2017-06-20 20:16
    Don't rush out and buy Chromebooks, especially Heater. You'll be disappointed.

    What about Spin? It works well for many, we have two programming solutions and support multiple platforms. You may be asking about compiler enhancements? Grumbling about the continual Parallax focus on education? Just tell us what you think.

    Ken Gracey
  • KeithEKeithE Posts: 957
    Let us know when we can give it a shot and I'll try it on an older Chromebook.

    The Union School district (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_School_District,_San_Jose) is into Chromebooks and I've heard about kids also using robots starting in the lower grades. Probably the beebot for the really young ones, but I believe they have a good STEAM program. Anyways not too far from Parallax.
  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,230
    Ken,
    Grumbling about the continual Parallax focus on education?
    Nooo...not at all. I'm full of admiration for the educational work of Parallax. I know you guys take it very seriously, work very hard on it and produce high quality materials (hardware, software and docs). More power to that I say.
    You may be asking about compiler enhancements?
    Nope. I'm generally in the crowd that thinks keeping Spin as simple as possible to learn and use for beginners is a good idea. The less features to confuse the novice the better. There are a couple of little things I might want tweaked but that's a story for another day.
    Just tell us what you think.
    I generally do :)

    I was just wondering about Spin on the Chromebook.

    As far as I understand a Chromebook app is basically developed using HTML, CSS and Javascript. It's basically a webapp. As such the user interface should be usable in any browser. Actually accessing hardware to program the Prop may need a Chromebook. Or it could be done as a Chrome browser app or an app based on Electron. All wonderfully cross-platform.

    Excuse my ignorance but does Blockly get translated to C or Spin? Where does the compilation to a Propeller binary happen?

    I ask because we can compile Spin in the browser using the Javascript version of OpenSpin. Sounds like it should drop into the Blockly IDE.

    Of course that may be a complication you do not want to a Blockly environment.




  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,230
    Ken,
    Don't rush out and buy Chromebooks, especially Heater. You'll be disappointed.
    Sounds like I might have to get one. To find out why I won't like it :)

    What is the problem with them?
  • Ken GraceyKen Gracey Posts: 7,392
    edited 2017-06-20 21:28
    @Heater. I appreciate your reply and enjoy your candidness. Thank you!

    Blockly generates C code in our system, but it's flexible and can generate just about any code you'd like to create. Up until yesterday our S3 robot as driven by blocks that generated Spin code, but today that system is also C. The compiling happens in the Amazon Web Server cloud - we've got a bunch of self-scaling servers that grow with demand. The Chromebook necessitates the cloud environment due to absence of local file storage.

    I don't think we'll be putting Spin back into Blockly. It's a simple market-driven thinking. Spin is not a language that educators use (or are told to use) and we've tried it before but only with fair results. Now that we're doing what the market wants we are far more productive.

    BTW here's a video you guys will appreciate:



    Ken Gracey
  • KeithEKeithE Posts: 957
    Heater - if you have an old laptop that's not getting any use, then you could simulate a chromebook with this:

    https://www.neverware.com/freedownload
  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,230
    Ken,

    Thanks for the run down on Blocky internals. I hadn't realized the Chromebook was deprived of local file storage. That does make compiling in the browser itself somewhat pointless.

    I do agree with not wanting to add Spin to Blockly. As an educational tool this less knobs to tweak and dials to read for the beginner the better.

    Perhaps one day I will get back to perfecting Spin compilation in Chrome as a Chrome app or a in Electron. Perhaps I can borrow something from the Blockly code base to do so :)




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