I'm Programming Blind...

S

Sysem

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Ok, not as an eyesight but you'll soon see what I mean.

For one of my varsity courses, we have to program a microcontroller. This is the first time a lot of people have had to program, luckily as a CompSci student, I don't have this problem. Its all coded in ASM, so those poor buggers really got thrown in the deep end with having to read up on the microprocessors ports and registers etc.

Ok, to the blind part. Seeing as we just started, we not making little robots, but simply playing around with the 5 buttons, 8 LEDs and an LCD screen. It communicates to the PC and compiler via a COMM port, which my laptop doesn't have... So I sit at home, read up on the documents and tutorials, write myself a little program and... Well nothing. Can't test it... So I then take the code to varsity next day, along with my kit and test it on one of the lab PCs :)

So basically I blindly write out code, unable to test it and then hope for the best! Just thought I'd tell MyBB.

Anyone else have issues similar to this before out of curiosity?
 
What uCs are you programming on? PICs? Atmels? Plenty of simulators for the common uCs out there (PIC 16F series especially). Take a look at a suite called Proteus.
 
Ah sweet! Didn't know there were simulators. We using the Freescale GT16. Would have to search my notes for the full name, but that's what we call it for short. Its actually on a dev board designed by the electrical engineering department.
 
We used to code the PIC at tech in the late 90's. I remember the compiler and dev environment were free from the supplier, in those days we got it on a cd but I'm sure you can download it now.
 
Have programmed blind lots of times.
Coded a client program. But since I never had enough machines at home to test it out had to go the labs with my program and hope for the best and yes it worked.
I've also coded programs which are too complex to run on my laptop, I need a server to run. Most of the time, ssh'ing fails cause of the & need to get through 2-3 firewalls, so I again I head to the labs where I only need to ssh once.

Also group projects. You code one section but when you put your code together all disaster breaks loose
 
stricken said:
how about a USB <-> COM board?
Click to expand...

Why bother with a board when you can get a very neat little adapter for around R90 if you're lucky and R130 or so, if you're not? I programmed MCUs for a living for a while and that's all I used for a while until we switched to programmers with USB interfaces.
 
I'm guessing that by 'comm' port you mean RS232. Invest in a USB to RS232 adapter. It's pretty much mandatory if you wish to get anywhere with uC programming as it's simpler to set up than USB (a MAX3232 and a few 330 nF caps for bidirectional or just a BJT for unidirectional).
 
MPLab6 has a nice simulator built into it. I'm assuming you're running a 16F84 setup (as per Daan de Beer of the old Cape Tech's development kit/manual)

ASM was one of my most memorable experiences while studying and it's awesome once you get the hang of it.
 
Yup, as others have said, get something like this.

Plenty around, very simple, just plug it in and it works. Check which com port it has been assigned to in the control panel, and use that.
 
I'm skipping on the adapters for now as I have no money for the month :P
 
Sysem said:
I'm skipping on the adapters for now as I have no money for the month :P
Click to expand...
Fair enough.
I also look back at those first days of micro's and asm fondly. Pretty crazy at the time...but you'll never look at any processor the same.
 
I was reading this thread and realized very quickly I have no frakking clue what you guys are talking about... haha!
 
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