Comments on: Turn Signals, Malloc, and the Arduino http://www.zanfar.com/2009/turn-signals-malloc-and-the-arduino/ The Ramblings of an OCD Engineer Sun, 01 May 2011 04:41:38 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Austin http://www.zanfar.com/2009/turn-signals-malloc-and-the-arduino/#comment-15 Austin Sun, 01 May 2011 04:41:38 +0000 http://www.zanfar.com/?p=87#comment-15 Ha!  Ok.  I enjoyed this article but I found it for a rather ironic reason.  I am a software developer with a pretty strong background in C and C++  (no problem with that hand-made stack you mention) but I am really new to working with embedded hardware.  I actually ended up reading this article because I am trying to use malloc() on an Arduino to implement a stack and am coming up against some bizarre aspects of the Arduino platform. Anyway, I enjoyed the article and completely agree with the sentiment behind it.  Keep it up. Ha!  Ok.  I enjoyed this article but I found it for a rather ironic reason.  I am a software developer with a pretty strong background in C and C++  (no problem with that hand-made stack you mention) but I am really new to working with embedded hardware.  I actually ended up reading this article because I am trying to use malloc() on an Arduino to implement a stack and am coming up against some bizarre aspects of the Arduino platform.
Anyway, I enjoyed the article and completely agree with the sentiment behind it.  Keep it up.

]]> By: Matthew http://www.zanfar.com/2009/turn-signals-malloc-and-the-arduino/#comment-14 Matthew Wed, 17 Feb 2010 04:40:01 +0000 http://www.zanfar.com/?p=87#comment-14 <p>Lukas, I think you missed the point of this post, which was that the Arduinio doesn't require you to Malloc. It's this abstraction away from the internals, without the honesty to say that the platform is not a hardware platform, that makes the Arduinio dangerous.</p> <p>The Arduinio is a mid-level software playground, specifically designed so that you don't have to know low-level software or hardware, such as memory allocation or sensor interfacing.</p> Lukas, I think you missed the point of this post, which was that the Arduinio doesn't require you to Malloc. It's this abstraction away from the internals, without the honesty to say that the platform is not a hardware platform, that makes the Arduinio dangerous.

The Arduinio is a mid-level software playground, specifically designed so that you don't have to know low-level software or hardware, such as memory allocation or sensor interfacing.

]]> By: Lukas http://www.zanfar.com/2009/turn-signals-malloc-and-the-arduino/#comment-13 Lukas Fri, 12 Feb 2010 15:24:33 +0000 http://www.zanfar.com/?p=87#comment-13 I think the Arduino is a great opportunity for people who have no clue about "technical stuff" to explore this world. Finishing Computer Science studies, I understand pointers and I had to programm a stack, BUT I don't think I am a good programmer. The malloc tag confused me, because I was wondering about memory allocation for the Arduino. I found no answer, but a nice entertaining story, except the provacative malloc tag ;) I think the Arduino is a great opportunity for people who have no clue about "technical stuff" to explore this world. Finishing Computer Science studies, I understand pointers and I had to programm a stack, BUT I don't think I am a good programmer. The malloc tag confused me, because I was wondering about memory allocation for the Arduino. I found no answer, but a nice entertaining story, except the provacative malloc tag ;)

]]> By: Leah Shanker http://www.zanfar.com/2009/turn-signals-malloc-and-the-arduino/#comment-12 Leah Shanker Mon, 06 Jul 2009 16:22:35 +0000 http://www.zanfar.com/?p=87#comment-12 Or a teacher. We're definitely on the same page about how things should be taught to novice programmers: good old fashioned bash-your-head-against-a-wall until you can actually implement a hard concept from the ground up. A juicy morsel from my UI Usability class last semester is the concept of matching an interface to a user's "mental model" of the concept. Essentially, the premise is to design User Interfaces around the expectations of typical users and the way they understand the problem. A simulator for a car would probably feature a dashboard, for example. The big "tell" for whether a user interface matches the user's mental model happens when you ask them to predict what will happen next or watch them try to resolve an error. I think this makes a great analogy to the points you make in your blog. Your average tradeschool programmer probably spends a lot of time copying and pasting code from the internet (Truer than you might imagine) in a measly attempt to cover up the underlying problem: lack of conceptual understanding. Great post, Anita's right: you really have a gift for storytelling! Or a teacher.

We're definitely on the same page about how things should be taught to novice programmers: good old fashioned bash-your-head-against-a-wall until you can actually implement a hard concept from the ground up.

A juicy morsel from my UI Usability class last semester is the concept of matching an interface to a user's "mental model" of the concept. Essentially, the premise is to design User Interfaces around the expectations of typical users and the way they understand the problem. A simulator for a car would probably feature a dashboard, for example.

The big "tell" for whether a user interface matches the user's mental model happens when you ask them to predict what will happen next or watch them try to resolve an error. I think this makes a great analogy to the points you make in your blog. Your average tradeschool programmer probably spends a lot of time copying and pasting code from the internet (Truer than you might imagine) in a measly attempt to cover up the underlying problem: lack of conceptual understanding.

Great post, Anita's right: you really have a gift for storytelling!

]]> By: Anita Duncan http://www.zanfar.com/2009/turn-signals-malloc-and-the-arduino/#comment-11 Anita Duncan Wed, 01 Jul 2009 01:13:14 +0000 http://www.zanfar.com/?p=87#comment-11 I think you're majoring in the wrong field!  You should be an Author, you have the flair for the dramatic and your quit gifted in they way you present it.  I don't understand most of what you where talking about , (thank goodness I'm not an engineer) but it's really impressive and humorous.  Good job, Love Anita  I think you're majoring in the wrong field!  You should be an Author, you have the flair for the dramatic and your quit gifted in they way you present it.  I don't understand most of what you where talking about , (thank goodness I'm not an engineer) but it's really impressive and humorous.  Good job, Love Anita 

]]>