21 May
2013
21 May
'13
12:20 p.m.
>> I'm afraid these things could give a
whole crop of kids totally the wrong
>> idea about what embedded programming is. Using a familiar platform is neat
>> because it means you can start from knowledge you already have but running a
>> full-blown timesharing OS just to control a few blinkenlights or whatever is
>> morally wrong.
>
> I agree 100%.
>
> But I think starting there is better than not starting at all. The trouble
> comes, just like Arduino, when people won't take off the training wheels.
>
The analogy is somewhat flawed IMHO. As I understand it (never having
ridden a bicycle), you learn with the training wheels, when you are able
to blanace the machine on your own, you take them off and ride without
them. The point being that when you take the training wheels off, you
carry on with essentially the same skils you were using before.
This is not the case with a lot of the 'toy' programming languages and
environments where you do have to re-learn things when you move on to
other languages and systems. My views are totally opposite to most
teachers (on the other hand they have worked well for me) in that uyou
should _never_ learn a simplified viersion that had to be un-learned
later.. Lear nthe real thing form day 1. Learn to solder early on, you
will need to solder anyway. Learn to use a proper programming language.
Darn it. learn assembly language early on if you are going to be workign
with embbedded systesms. You may well write the final code in a higher
level language, but you should have an understanding of what the machine
can and is actually doing.
What are your thoughts on those IDEs for those kinds of things where it's
built with building blocks?
Anybody who tried ot inflict those on anyone I knew would end up having
to enter the entire OS-8 sysem on the frontpanel switches...
-tony