~~Confused !!~~

[Rider]

Hello everybody,
  I am a beginner in robotics trying to learn my way up. I have been experimenting and learning past one year and I still feel I havent progressed as much as I would have done. The major problem I am facing is with programming languages. I started writing codes in C, because I had some basic Idea about C language but what I figured out is that the C language I learned at school or from the books is somewhat pretty different from what we use in programming ucs. For most of the times almost half the code seems alien to me. I know the code that is needed for LFR, or parallel port control but I know only the certain code and that too that I learnt from tutorials. This certainly is not taking me anywhere. I figured out that I know only bits and pieces of existing code samples rather than the programming language (Atleat the basic level of it). I googled for the code to control stepper motors via parallel port that found most in VB.NET or in Java. Then I googled for image recognition tutorials and found out that they were either done in matlab or they used Java. Some also used VB. So I am pretty confused that what language must I study to be able to make bots on my own ( which means programming the uc with my own code just the same way I made small applications in C an year back at school). If I keep struggling with C and some point later I figure out u can't use C for image recognition system at all and that I must have put all that effort with java and not C ..

Is there a book that can be used to learn a programming language for robotics (C/ VB/ VB.NET/ JAVA) just the same way we used to learn C for making applications for computers.

Currently I feel that the professional programmers reside on some other planet, where they know the whole programming language and everything .. and we beginners on this planet, surviving on bits and pieces of information the programmers filter out from their planet for us to search and gobble upon. And they dont write a book, neither they tell it to anybody, nor do they leave any possible trails of that information else we the poor beginners might find out the secret knowledge of the Mighty programming language.

 


Please somebody help me. I am utterly confused, stuck and desperate.

I am willing to learn but dont know which way to go .. please enlighten me!

[jaime]

Programming is hard.  It really is.  Certainly lots of people do it, but there are a lot of bad programs out there 

As painful as it sounds, you need to step away from robotics and learn how to program.  Learn `C'.  There are numerous tutorials and books out there.  Pick something, start it, and finish it.

While learning C, you will discover that the hardest part of programming does not involve programming at all.  Really, the hardest part of programming is developing an algorithm.  It's very important to understand that if you can't clearly state how to solve a problem in English (or your native tongue!), you certainly won't be able to solve the problem in `C'.

So, you're plan of attack should be: pick tutorial / book.  Work your way through it.

Once you've finished the tutorial / book, WRITE PROGRAMS.  Write programs for just about anything you can think of.  Even "trivial" things such as a tip calculator teach very basic fundamentals of programming: gathering input, validating input, processing input, producing output....

It's important to not give up.  It's tough and if there was ever a trade skill that builds on itself, it's programming.  So stick in there, and learn a bit at a time.  If you have any questions, no matter how simple, just ask.  If you don't want to post here, send me a PM and I'll do my best to answer you.

Good luck and don't give up.

jame

[GearMotion]

"Is there a book that can be used to learn a programming language for robotics (C/ VB/ VB.NET/ JAVA) just the same way we used to learn C for making applications for computers."

Try:

http://www.amazon.com/Programming-Microcontrollers-Featuring-Butterfly-Compiler/dp/0976682206/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1254255874&sr=8-1




And:

http://www.amazon.com/Programming-Robot-Controllers-Myke-Predko/dp/0071408517/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1254255947&sr=1-1

[Admin]

There are two main things you learn with a programming language:
concepts
syntax

The concepts are very similar with all the languages. So after you learn one, learning the next will be 5x easier. Just pick a language (I recommend C for robots), and the other languages will be much easier after.

Syntax involves simple memorization and google lookups.