Simple Machines

This is a follow on from yesterday's post, where I described some of the cpu technology I currently deal with and how it would be great if there was a common language that would run on them all.

I am currently working with STM32Fxxx Cortex M3  M4 and M7 ARM devices, having designed half a dozen pcbs based around them in the last couple of years. I have also worked with ATmega parts - mostly derivatives of Arduino and now I am branching out into FPGA softcore CPUs.

I am not a natural or native software engineer, and I feel the need to simplify the processes to the point where I understand what is going on and I am in total control of the device. This low level approach rather constrains the scope of what I can achieve, but it gives me the satisfaction of understanding the whole picture.  This approach has led me into the territory of baremetal programming - something that I am slowly starting to get a taste for.

To make life easier, we surround ourselves with familiar useful objects and tools. As we become accustomed to these new things, learn how to use them efficiently, they improve the quality of our output and enrich our (working) lives. It's been the same for the last 50 years, since when computers first started to appear in quantity.

But more computers doesn't always mean better, I have about 7 within arms reach, and one in my pocket. Fortunately 6 are switched off, and the one in my pocket has not disturbed me for at least 30 minutes. There's the laptop I am writing this on, that I bought about 5 years ago and takes 5 minutes to boot, and the Android in my pocket which I use for making calls and sending texts. Most of my interactions with modern operating systems is solely as a user of pre-packaged applications, the inner workings I know nothing about, and probably don't have the time to care.

I must confess I don't know how to drive a Linux machine through it's command line, I only powered a Raspberry Pi for the first time in April this year and I am totally lost on a MAC. To make things worse, I have no idea why my unbranded Android keeps popping up text box warnings in Chinese!  

So - as a dinosaur of the digital age, I will stick to what I know and remain in my comfort zone - which is as close to the bare metal as possible.

Most microcontrollers are programmed in C or one of it's close cousins, with the language tools normally residing on a much more powerful machine, such as a laptop - with whatever flavour of operating system suits the user.  As confessed above, I have grown up with Windows, as have most of the software tools I use in my day to day work and play. It's taken me several years to master one pcb design package, so why should I struggle like an infant, trying to learn another - just because it's the flavour of the month.  My "muscle memories" are tuned to driving EagleCAD, so when out of interest I tried KiCAD, I found it one of the most frustrating, unproductive 2 hours of my adult life. I am beginning to think what they say about old dogs and new tricks, is not only true, but just a polite way of saying "move over, Grandad, you had your chance".

So this is increasingly why, tech people of my generation, cling to the foundations - and avoid climbing the towers of Babylon that have been built, every increasingly skyward, on top of them. 

This is probably not what I intended to write this time - but I feel much better for getting it off my chest.