Please, more robot design and less NXC nitpicking

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rghansen
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Joined: 12 Oct 2010, 17:44

Please, more robot design and less NXC nitpicking

Post by rghansen »

Originally, this was an excellent forum for people interested in building and working with Mindstorms based robots.

But for the last several months, I've found very few articles about robot technology (custom IMU sensor), much less robot building (bibeds), but endless articles about various "deficiencies" in NXC.

Instead of getting the praise that he deserves for all that he has done for us, he gets nickeled and dimed to death from people who want to brag about finding a nit here or a pick there in NXC. If we don't stop doing this, he's going to stop supporting NXC and then what will we do?

NXC has enabled me to produce some quite clever, complex robots. Like everything in life, it's not perfect, you just have to learn to live with the limitations or find a work-a-around.

Is NXC perfect, of course not. But it's still light years ahead of NXT-G. And it's free!

Thank you John. Please forgive us and keep up the good work.
mightor
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Re: Please, more robot design and less NXC nitpicking

Post by mightor »

You have to understand that without the bug reports, suggestions and other "nit pickings", there'd be no way for John to know about certain bugs. Now I've met John in person and I am pretty confident he is able to pick up for himself :)

You're fairly new to this community and that's fine, but it's when people *stop* complaining about stuff that you should start worrying. People complain because they care and are passionate about something :) Now of course there's a troll-y way of doing it and a nice way of doing it. Rest assured though, that I won't put up with the former but welcome the latter.

There are four of us that wield a ban-hammer. We haven't had to swing with it yet, but you can rest assured that thrash talking is not accepted on these forums. I appreciate you trying to stick up for John, I really do, but the man is no stranger to online communities :)

Now I'll quit bitching about NXC as soon as John finishes implementing function overloading. Bloody slacker.

- Xander
| My Blog: I'd Rather Be Building Robots (http://botbench.com)
| RobotC 3rd Party Driver Suite: (http://rdpartyrobotcdr.sourceforge.net)
| Some people, when confronted with a problem, think, "I know, I'll use threads,"
| and then two they hav erpoblesms. (@nedbat)
rghansen
Posts: 67
Joined: 12 Oct 2010, 17:44

Re: Please, more robot design and less NXC nitpicking

Post by rghansen »

Although I'm fairly new here, John has already fixed a couple of minor items that I've found in NXC. In each case, I reported them through sourceforge and made it clear to him that he could fix them when and if he found the time. I think that is the proper way to report bugs or wishes if you're looking more for results than bragging rights.

At most I'd like to see a "known problem file".

Perhaps you picked the wrong word, but I come to this forum to get away from the constant "bitching" I get in the media and at work.

I want to learn from other people about what they've build. I want to find out where I can buy gear boxes and shock absorbers if I have a European address. I want to know how to work around limitations in NXC or the NXT for that matter.

You've done a good job of keeping this forum "civil", but I'm worried about a slow downward drift.

You know John better than I do, but if I were him, I'd be thinking about taking up fly fishing.
mattallen37
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Re: Please, more robot design and less NXC nitpicking

Post by mattallen37 »

When I report bugs, I don't intend to brag. Normally, a "bug" is the result of my doing something wrong, not something with NXC. Reporting it here, I can often be pointed in the right direction.

As far as buying parts in Europe, try using Bricklink. eBay can be a good place as well; it depends on what you are looking for.
Matt
http://mattallen37.wordpress.com/

I'm all for gun control... that's why I use both hands when shooting ;)
afanofosc
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Re: Please, more robot design and less NXC nitpicking

Post by afanofosc »

I really don't mind all the nit picking. Praise would be nicer, obviously, but my stuff is definitely not perfect and I want to hear about problems people have.

I could use some LabView expertise assistance, though, in trying to figure out what the NXT-G compiler is doing - hopefully correctly - that I am doing wrong when it comes to writing out the static and dynamic datasspace and activation record offset values to an RXE file.

John Hansen
Multi-platform LEGO MINDSTORMS programming
http://bricxcc.sourceforge.net/
rghansen
Posts: 67
Joined: 12 Oct 2010, 17:44

Re: Please, more robot design and less NXC nitpicking

Post by rghansen »

mattallen37 wrote:When I report bugs, I don't intend to brag. Normally, a "bug" is the result of my doing something wrong, not something with NXC. Reporting it here, I can often be pointed in the right direction.

As far as buying parts in Europe, try using Bricklink. eBay can be a good place as well; it depends on what you are looking for.
mattallen37, you're one of the guys that makes following this forum worth while.

Also thanks for convincing me to take another look at Bricklink. When I first checked them out shortly after getting my NXT, I felt like a young kid walking into a Arabian bazaar looking for an ice-cream cone.
mightor
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Re: Please, more robot design and less NXC nitpicking

Post by mightor »

أنا أبحث عن الآيس كريم، الرجاء

For the next time you find yourself in the Middle-East or North Africa and want some ice cream.

- Xander
| My Blog: I'd Rather Be Building Robots (http://botbench.com)
| RobotC 3rd Party Driver Suite: (http://rdpartyrobotcdr.sourceforge.net)
| Some people, when confronted with a problem, think, "I know, I'll use threads,"
| and then two they hav erpoblesms. (@nedbat)
HaWe
Posts: 2500
Joined: 04 Nov 2014, 19:00

Re: Please, more robot design and less NXC nitpicking

Post by HaWe »

Any idea what you'll get on an Arabian basar at 46°C in the shade asking for ice cream in the Medina of Bahrein ?
When you're lucky, I guess a lukewarm milk shake without Salmonella typhi or E.coli or Staph.aureus. Image
*rofl*

@John:
nit picking or praising - I love your NXC anyway - hoping I help making it reach the NXT level: ACDC ;)
Last edited by HaWe on 28 Feb 2011, 22:28, edited 1 time in total.
mightor
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Re: Please, more robot design and less NXC nitpicking

Post by mightor »

Let's not mention the hepatitis, either :)

- Xander
| My Blog: I'd Rather Be Building Robots (http://botbench.com)
| RobotC 3rd Party Driver Suite: (http://rdpartyrobotcdr.sourceforge.net)
| Some people, when confronted with a problem, think, "I know, I'll use threads,"
| and then two they hav erpoblesms. (@nedbat)
HaWe
Posts: 2500
Joined: 04 Nov 2014, 19:00

Re: Please, more robot design and less NXC nitpicking

Post by HaWe »

yeah, especially when you're asking for
العضلات آيس كريم
Image
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