<div dir="ltr">Hi all,<div><br></div><div style>There's an end-user question in here. Wait for it.</div><div><br></div><div style>The developer's list has been reasonably active; we've moved the code base from our home-hosted SVN to Github, and we're moving along getting things cleaned up on the back-end. These things, in combination, should make it easier for people to get involved if they are so inclined. (Eg. go to Github, hit "fork," and play along!)</div>
<div style><br></div><div style>The challenge with projects like this, especially when the core team are academics, is that we have all these distractors: students (teaching, advising), committee administrative work, writing grants, etc. You know, all those things that get in the way of good-old-fashioned writing and maintaining code. And, as team members get degrees and move on, or move institutions, and so on, it represents additional reduction in work capacity.</div>
<div style><br></div><div style>My point: we're down in numbers. Lately, I've been spending time trying to resuscitate parts of the build system. This is a project unto itself, and it's a very ugly project. The Windows build is complex, has lots of dependencies, and all of those have been updated/upgraded/changed since our last builds in 2011. The Mac build is easier, but is still in need of love.</div>
<div style><br></div><div style>I'd like to make the following change, and if you're keen on using occam on the Arduino, let me know what you think:</div><div style><br></div><div style>1. Move the compiler to a server. It will be a Linux-based machine, and our Linux-based tools "just work," by-and-large.</div>
<div style><br></div><div style>2. Build a small, stand-alone app that you can use to open a file, set of files, or folder, and then hit "compile." It will ship the code to the server, compile it, and ship it back. This will be for the Arduino only; it will not support running occam-pi code on your native machine.</div>
<div style><br></div><div style>3. The stand-alone app will then upload your code to your Arduino using AVRdude. </div><div style><br></div><div style>I wrote a version of this last summer for another project; it's small, simple, and easily maintainable. You'll be able to use your choice of text editor, and it will be easier for us to support a wider variety of Arduinos, because we'll be spending less time on build systems and editor plugins, and more time on things like library support for hardware. And, the nice thing is, the firmwares for the Arduinos will be centralized: if we fix something, all you have to do is select "Install Firmware" from the little stand-alone app, it will pull down the most recent version from the server, install it, and (as they say) "Bob's your uncle."</div>
<div style><br></div><div style>I've spent hours with the Windows build, and that's going to take weeks of work on my part (while balancing student researchers and family) to bring back to life right now. I've also been experimenting with a web-based editor, but it doesn't easily handle multiple files (and it would need a native component anyway). This seems like the simplest, quickest way to get updates for occam-on-Arduino updated and going again.</div>
<div style><br></div><div style>Opinions or thoughts?</div><div style><br></div><div style>Cheers,</div><div style>Matt</div></div>