March 4th, 2020 at 11:59 PM
I learned to program on the Basic Stamp 2. It had a measly 2KB of program memory, and a very minscule amount of RAM (somewhere in the range of 256 bytes, maybe less). You could only really store a couple hundred lines of code for your program on the microcontroller, so it was anything BUT powerful. However, it was in the basic programming language, so it was extremely easy.
Python is honestly pretty much just about as easy as BASIC is, while being far more powerful. It would be VERY interesting to see python on a microcontroller at some point, but being that Python's runtime environment is fairly heavyweight compared to a basic environment, I don't see this happening.
Anyway, the basic stamp was very restrictive due to the extremely small amount of memory. Arduinos have long been the standard because they are more cost effective, more flexible, and much better in terms of hardware (and they are powered by 8-bit AVRs. There is a lot you can do, even with ancient CPUs).
More interestingly, Parallax had the propellor microcontroller. It was a bit ahead of its time, but it was neat because it literally had eight cores on a single microcontroller. The programming language that it used, however, was VERY restrictive, as the ENTIRE interpreter had to fit within 512 bytes of memory per core. The propeller would have been a fantastic microcontroller with a slightly more powerful language to back it without having to resort to full C.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BASIC_Stamp
As such, it seems that the arduino is more or less carrying the torch now. It's far more powerful, much more cost effective, and very widely accepted. Programs also don't have to fit inside of 2KB of EEPROM, which is nice.
Anyone ever used microcontrollers before? If so, what did you use, and what was your preference?
Python is honestly pretty much just about as easy as BASIC is, while being far more powerful. It would be VERY interesting to see python on a microcontroller at some point, but being that Python's runtime environment is fairly heavyweight compared to a basic environment, I don't see this happening.
Anyway, the basic stamp was very restrictive due to the extremely small amount of memory. Arduinos have long been the standard because they are more cost effective, more flexible, and much better in terms of hardware (and they are powered by 8-bit AVRs. There is a lot you can do, even with ancient CPUs).
More interestingly, Parallax had the propellor microcontroller. It was a bit ahead of its time, but it was neat because it literally had eight cores on a single microcontroller. The programming language that it used, however, was VERY restrictive, as the ENTIRE interpreter had to fit within 512 bytes of memory per core. The propeller would have been a fantastic microcontroller with a slightly more powerful language to back it without having to resort to full C.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BASIC_Stamp
As such, it seems that the arduino is more or less carrying the torch now. It's far more powerful, much more cost effective, and very widely accepted. Programs also don't have to fit inside of 2KB of EEPROM, which is nice.
Anyone ever used microcontrollers before? If so, what did you use, and what was your preference?
