Man 'o man...
BradC
Posts: 2,601
This is an odd post I guess..
For many years I got my kicks writing really funky code to wring the absolute maximum out of the processor I was working on.
Always playing with timing, interrupts and delays to get everything I needed out of the processor while managing to do funky things
that co-workers just could not seem to grasp.
The propeller has harpooned all of that. Everything I _need_ to do is just so easy. The timing is rock solid and perfectly deterministic,
I don't need to prioritise interrupts anymore, I don't have to think about cycle counting or synchronisation and the assembler is just
so bloody fantastic that when I *need* to shave cycles off I can re-work things using some of the funky instructions and conditions that
none of the other processors seem to have.
Don't get me wrong, I'm having a ball playing with the propeller, but it's all just so easy it's like the challenge has gone from everything
I used to do. Now I need to sell my clients on more features just to get the challenge level up again!
The first thing I do usually when getting to know a new processor is write a really accurate RTC. With the propeller it's about 40-50 lines
of asm in a cog and a bit of spin to display it on a VGA screen, I mean how easy can it get??!? Not only that, but after 24 hours it's still
accurate to within milliseconds! Give me a break, where's the challenge anymore?
I've never been a fan of the Basic Stamps (I'm an assembler snob) but with the propeller I've even started to use a bit of Spin where
I just don't need the raw performance.. (VGA display of time and temperature for example)
Thanks Parallax, you've come up with silicon that stretches me rather than me stretching the silicon!
For many years I got my kicks writing really funky code to wring the absolute maximum out of the processor I was working on.
Always playing with timing, interrupts and delays to get everything I needed out of the processor while managing to do funky things
that co-workers just could not seem to grasp.
The propeller has harpooned all of that. Everything I _need_ to do is just so easy. The timing is rock solid and perfectly deterministic,
I don't need to prioritise interrupts anymore, I don't have to think about cycle counting or synchronisation and the assembler is just
so bloody fantastic that when I *need* to shave cycles off I can re-work things using some of the funky instructions and conditions that
none of the other processors seem to have.
Don't get me wrong, I'm having a ball playing with the propeller, but it's all just so easy it's like the challenge has gone from everything
I used to do. Now I need to sell my clients on more features just to get the challenge level up again!
The first thing I do usually when getting to know a new processor is write a really accurate RTC. With the propeller it's about 40-50 lines
of asm in a cog and a bit of spin to display it on a VGA screen, I mean how easy can it get??!? Not only that, but after 24 hours it's still
accurate to within milliseconds! Give me a break, where's the challenge anymore?
I've never been a fan of the Basic Stamps (I'm an assembler snob) but with the propeller I've even started to use a bit of Spin where
I just don't need the raw performance.. (VGA display of time and temperature for example)
Thanks Parallax, you've come up with silicon that stretches me rather than me stretching the silicon!
Comments
The propeller way has immense issues; this forum is full of it
I suddenly find that it is the hardware that takes time instead of software. Never experienced that before. And I don't mind. Not at all!
I used to be one of them asm snobs, too (OK, used Forth a lot also). Now I am a spinner, mostly. The counters (check them out thoroughly!) do most of my real fast things.
We will certainly see more of these "Odd posts"
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Chip: "That's just incredible, Paul! Tell me, what else can the Propeller do?"
Paul (Baker): "Let me show you. Look, we'll just put it into this bucket of liquid nitrogen at -173C"
Chip: "Oh my goodness! What are you doing?" <looks at audience> "He doesn't care, it's not his"
Paul: "Look! It's still going! We can even apply a short across its input pins and it doesn't break!"
Chip: "Isn't that just amazing?"
Customer 1: "Before I had the Propeller I was not sleeping very well and my breath smelled funny. Now, thanks to the Propeller I no longer suffer from either of those."
Customer 2: "I had really big problems with ingrown toenails and small bald patch on the back of my head. Then I started using the Propeller chip in all my PLC products and now even my beard is starting to grow evenly."
Voice over: "That's right, the Propeller can do all that and more. If you order one of your own within the next ten minutes, we'll even add a Propeller Clip for NOTHING! The Propeller is available in several handy packages for all your design needs. Please call and order yours now, our operators are standing by. Remember, if lines are busy, call back later, but do call!"
Gr,
Mightor
PS: I vote Parallax actually make one of these ads.
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| What the world needs is more geniuses with humility, there are so few of us left.
| "Wait...if that was a compliment, why is my fist of death tingling?"
| - Alice from Dilbert
I like this best:
Take some style and production cues from the "Will it Blend?" guy. Would be a UTube instant global hit.
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Propeller Wiki: Share the coolness!
SPIN has a nice modularization scheme with strict (some say: too constrained) scoping rules, and a funny but useful static instantiation feature. This is FAR away from any of the many flavours of acknowledged OOP concepts.
Gr,
Mightor
PS: I had a college class mate who was an actual member of the Mike Levey fan club... Oh dear.
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| What the world needs is more geniuses with humility, there are so few of us left.
| "Wait...if that was a compliment, why is my fist of death tingling?"
| - Alice from Dilbert
whereas the prop on the other hand, has really caught my imagination again, like the good ol' days, where it was just you and a screen, no fancy hardware to do it all for you, just your raw coding ability, and out of the box thinking. well done Parallax, it really is an outstanding chip. I know I'm also looking forward to Prop2, because the extra speed and memory will will really boost things, but in the mean time, I'm not waiting holding my breathe, I'm really living it up with the prop 1. it rocks.
Rofl mightor, yeah they should do an advert like that.
And they shall be brunettes because they are smart, though a curly headed redhead or two might be OK. As long as they are youthful and attractive.
Totally. Just was referring to the cool 70's style art and dead pan delivery. The Amazing Discoveries bit is totally appropriate.
A friend and I were talking the other day about Parallax stuff in general. Short story:
Geek Crack.
(It's a serious compliment guys --laugh!)
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Propeller Wiki: Share the coolness!
So now we wait for Chip and his co-hosts to "chip" in on the thread [noparse]:)[/noparse]
Ooohh, so many puns, so little time!
Gr,
Mightor
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| What the world needs is more geniuses with humility, there are so few of us left.
| "Wait...if that was a compliment, why is my fist of death tingling?"
| - Alice from Dilbert
Always want to build your own microcomputer?
<clip from: Pirates of Silicone Valley: Woz's first computer catches fire>
Looking for a door or window to jump from?
<clip of: Windows going BSOD, switch to man standing on tall ledge>
Get Parallax Propeller!
<80's style clip of geek lifting off with spinning Propeller hat>
<clip showing features>
Don't care if the rest of the world understands that 30 seconds of airtime,
call it equal time for all the Real Estate Informercials [noparse]:)[/noparse]
Oldbitcollector
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The comments and code above are proof that a million monkeys with a million propeller chips *could* write Shakespeare!
Hmmm, I guess it's time to do some more reading.
I tried to introduce the Propeller in a more "professional" forum. It didn't work out the way I had hoped. My fellow engineers are not easy to please...
See http://www.eng-tips.com/threadminder.cfm?pid=233
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Maybe the way to their hearts is through their wallets -- ie do what they do with lower chip count and less coding and faster finished.
my 2 cents,
Marty
P.S. the Propeller is an awesome chip. It's now my work-horse brains and glue chip. (BS2 is too slow and SX was too frustrating)
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Lunch cures all problems! have you had lunch?
I have hinted them. If they don't like it. Well, it is their problem.
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