search

ForthHub / discussion

Discussion repository for Forth enthusiasts.
118 stars 4 forks source link

STM8EF continued development #40

Open TG9541 opened 7 years ago

TG9541 commented 7 years ago

I'm a Forth newbie working on an eForth for low-end ($0.20/piece) STM8S Value Line devices. My starting point was Dr. C.H. Ting's STM8EF eForth demo (a STC eForth). My contribution is new features, bug-fixes, support for cheap target boards, and more compact code (core, and compiled code).

It's no match for AmForth or Mecrisp, but I like the challenge of targeting a device with very limited resources.

The repository is here. There is also a Wiki with some documentation, and a project on hackaday.io.

Feedback and advice from Forthers is welcome!

MitchBradley commented 7 years ago

This is probably not what you want to hear, but, for what it's worth, my advice is to focus on applications first, using needs to drive implementation features.

Focusing on the system implementation can be fun, but it's almost always pointless now that there are so many implementations.

On Feb 12, 2017, at 10:07 AM, Thomas notifications@github.com wrote:

I'm a Forth newbie working on an eForth for low-end ($0.20/piece) STM8S Value Line devices. My starting point was Dr. C.H. Ting's STM8EF eForth demo (a STC eForth). My contribution is new features, bug-fixes, support for cheap target boards, and more compact code (core, and compiled code).

It's no match for AmForth or Mecrisp, but I like the challenge of targeting a device with very limited resources.

The repository is here. There is also a Wiki with some documentation, and a project on hackaday.io.

Feedback and advice from Forthers is welcome!

— You are receiving this because you are subscribed to this thread. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub, or mute the thread.

TG9541 commented 7 years ago

Hi Mitch, well, I guess that's exactly the kind of advice I understand :-)

The currently implemented system features are rather basic (simple multitasking, interrupt support, flash programming). I also provided support for several cheap Chinese boards (I/O, howtos). Following your advice I'll try to create simple "turnkey" application kits.

lowfatcomputing commented 7 years ago

Congrats, your project is featured on hackaday!

quozl commented 7 years ago

Nice. I would have put a Forth on the ESP8266 as well as the STM8, but oh well. :grin:

TG9541 commented 7 years ago

@lowfatcomputing Andreas, thanks! Several of the Hackaday seniors have been very supportive, and I owe them a big "thank you"!

@quozl: have you tried Punyforth? In the heyday of Forth ESP8266 would have been a very very powerful device. The lowly STM8S is more like a janitor of the module :-)

@MitchBradley nailed it: for making a Forth known one has to provide easy to use applications, not just the software. Cool "projects" that can be consumed easily by casual techies, youngsters and folks with a daytime job alike, are a good way to draw some attention to Forth. The programmable $1.54 DC/DC converter is a good example: it draws attention to Forth much more effectively than STM8EF that does the main job.

quozl commented 7 years ago

@TG9541, no, I use CForth on ESP8266. Somewhat higher code to documentation ratio, but I read code faster than documentation. :grin: