trying to decide on pbp

[cncmachineguy]

Hi all,

So sorry if this is not the correct section to post. It looks like most of this forum is tech based (which is great) but I have a preliminary question.

I have always programmed in asm, way back I programmed with basica (dating myself?). I have always loved basic and never bothered to learn C or VB for that matter.

Heres my question: Having never used a complier other than asm, will I notice any uP performance differences for the worse? I mostly do hobby things like read encoders and drive multiple steppers and such. Also mess with R/C things (talking to servos, esc and listening to Rx).

My only concern is timing and such. Now before I get blasted with the usual kind of questions like " can you tell us specific requirements ", I am just looking for decision making ideas. I know no one will be able to wave a magic wand or look into a crystal ball for me, just looking for some insight.

I realize I will love things like if_then_elseif and REAL math functions and way easy array handling. But should I worry about timing stuff?

[mackrackit]

Welcome to the forum.

One of the nice things about PBP is ASM can be mixed in with it. Here is a perfect example
http://www.picbasic.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=3251
The above should take care of just about any interrupt timing issues you come across.

PBP has many commands that go back to BS1 (basic stamp) comparability and some of those do take up a little more code space and may take an extra cycle or so but no more so than poorly written ASM or C (IMHO).

In the end it is the person banging on the keyboard that makes the most difference.

[cncmachineguy]

thanks Dave, both for the info and the quick response. What you say makes perfect sense, I suppose I will go ahead and pull the trigger. I think I was just worried cuz I spend lots of time doing stuff like counting instructions to make sure loops are not too long and such.

I started with a BS1, and as soon as I got away from the 200uS executes, I haven't looked back. Maybe thats what was spooking me. But as I remember, BS had built in interpretor, so hence long execution time.

First project will be 16F1946 interface card for parallel port to steppers, also handling limit switches, homing and such.

You are right, its really up to the keyboard bangger.

P.S.
Does PBP come with safety glasses or do I need to buy them elsewhere?

[mackrackit]

You will need to supply the glasses

Have you tried the PBP demo yet? Then you can see how it works.
At complie time PBP converts your code to ASM. The ASM is tricky to read because of the macros used but that is a good thing?

[cncmachineguy]

Have you tried the PBP demo yet? Then you can see how it works.
At complie time PBP converts your code to ASM. The ASM is tricky to read because of the macros used but that is a good thing?

Just did download the demo, haven't really played with it yet. As for the tricky ASM, I guess its a good thing if it teaches me tricky programming skills

I went ahead and ordered it last night, now just waiting on the goodies to arrive. I am sure I will be very happy with it, just being a chicken s***.

[Acetronics2]

Hi CNCMG

Having been Playing with R/C stuff for ... some years ... I can tell you PBP is a real Handy tool, and most of the time ... no assembler programming required.

The best advantage, I think, is a truly compact and reliable code ... with very short debugging time. ( if any time even necessary ...).


IF I had to find something weak ...

Let's say the lack of Whisle and Bells features like universal libraries for GLCD and so on, where 8 bits processors begin to show their limits ...

May be Real time processing stuff ... but it is a common weakness for PURE basic programming.

Most of time, a nicely structured program does it without pain.

PBP + assembler knowledge is the winning cocktail ...

Alain