gnupic: alpha testers wanted
Subject:
Re: alpha testers wanted
From:
####@####.####
Date:
27 Aug 2005 17:21:11 +0100
Message-Id:
On 8/25/05, David McNab ####@####.#### wrote:
> Hi Folks,
>
> I'm seeking people interested in playing with a new PIC18Fxxx compiler,
> and possibly even using it in their projects.
>
> The compiler features:
> - high-level language programming
> - multitasking (co-operative)
> - object-oriented programming (optional)
> - exception handling
> - dynamic memory management
> - effortlessly easy integration with assembler
> - extensibility to the very core
>
> The compiler in question comes from my earlier PIC18Forth toolchain.
>
> In recap, PIC18Forth compiles Forth source code to a bytecode
> token-threaded VM runtime environment. On the positive side, this
> implememtation offers great flexibility and extremely compact code, but
> at a heavy performance cost.
>
> So I've forked Pic18Forth into two versions:
> - 'Van' - original version - slow, but able to carry
> large amounts of code in a PIC18F
> - 'Coupe' - new version - subroutine-threaded compilation, which gives
> near-native speed but loses the code density of the 'wagon', while
> keeping the flexibility
>
> It's the 'coupe' version for which I'm seeking testers at this time.
>
> I'm looking to have the manuals, tutorial, example progs, release
> tarball etc done over the weekend.
>
> For testers, I'm looking for people who:
> - like Forth, or are curious/flexible enough to learn a bit of it
> - are looking to try out a new high-level language compiler for
> PIC18Fxxx devices
> - have at least a crude reading knowledge of PIC18Fxxx assembler
> - use gputils and gpsim
> - are willing to give clear feedback and feature suggestions
>
> and desirably:
> - are working on actual PIC18Fxxx-based projects
> - might be willing to get involved in future development and
> documentation
> - might be willing and able to contribute device drivers in the
> future
>
> Please let me know on- or off-list if you're interested.
>
> --
OK, I was an early experimenter with PicForth.
And suspended that because I couldn't get DOSemu to drive
my par-port programmer, to make nice-short development cycles.
I've evolved a very systematic [unimaginative] work style, of 'logging
everything', like writing notes to myself, which makes alpha-testing
feedback natural/without-effort. I.e. if it's not 'per written description',
I don't suck-it-and-see, I just write that/how it failed.
Please put me on-list.
== Chris Glur.
