Re. Staapl

[easlab]

Tom Schouten wrote:

> The Staapl project has come to a point where it is ready for public
> scrutiny.
>
> http://zwizwa.be/staapl
>
> Staapl is a collection of abstractions for (meta)programming
> microcontrollers from within PLT Scheme. The core of the system is a
> programmable code generator structured around a functional
> concatenative macro language. On top of this it includes a syntax
> frontend for creating Forth-style languages, a backend code generator
> for Microchip's PIC18 microcontroller architecture, and interaction
> tools for shortening the edit-compile-test cycle.

This is a non-trivial project, which could be worth following.
But:  engineering =cost benefit analysis  ?
Some of these points could go into the FAQ.

I started with picforth.
But while I was waiting for Dosemu to mature, so that I
could better not have to use a DOS-box to program the
chips,  the technology moved beyond me.

The whole ideas of pic: minimal dil-devices; seems to
have morphed to absurdity  - like upgrading a
wheel-barrow to a locomotive !

Q - before I d/l the 37K *.tar.gz,
 must I particularly get plt-scheme too ?
I've got a [presumably standard] scheme already installed
and tested and convenient.

I use oberon, not C, and getting into CVS/darc could be a
can-of-worms.  

Q - obviously there's linux executables, or source +
compilation-scripts available ?

We all want minimal committment initially ?

Thanks,

== Chris Glur.


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[Tom Schouten-3]

Hi Chris,
Thanks for taking interest.

> The whole ideas of pic: minimal dil-devices; seems to
> have morphed to absurdity  - like upgrading a
> wheel-barrow to a locomotive !

Well, true. The target side is still very minimal of course, but the host
side gives up this minimalism in return of higher abstraction.

>
> Q - before I d/l the 37K *.tar.gz,
>  must I particularly get plt-scheme too ?
> I've got a [presumably standard] scheme already installed
> and tested and convenient.
>

Staapl is tied to PLT Scheme for various reasons. Most importantly PLT
Scheme's orientation towards writing DSLs (the declarative macro+module
system) and the excellent documentation.

>
> Q - obviously there's linux executables, or source +
> compilation-scripts available ?
>
> We all want minimal committment initially ?

I realize this. I'm currently writing some tutorials to lower the threshold,
and some top-level scripts that patch together the rather fine grained
library components for the normal 'compile' and 'repl' workflows.

Staapl is now installed on Planet, which makes trivial to install. See this
for more info:

http://zwizwa.be/ramblings/staapl-blog/20080727-115319

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