Coding on the Pandora


Gren

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Hi fellow Pandorians


Now that the units have started shipping again, my passion for making games for the Pandy has been re-ignited B)


This was my main reason for ordering - but the shenagins of the last couple of years have dimmed the enthusiasm somewhat.


I have no Linux/C/SDL experience - but I do code at work on mainframes (COBOL/DB2 and ASM/VSAM). The last time I fiddled with games creation was probably 8 years ago in Blitz Basic on the PC (and the Amiga before that).


My plan is to learn to dev in an appropriate Linux/Pandora-friendly language using my Books 24X7 subscription. Although TBH Linux and Dev toolchains scare the bejesus out of me :blink:


Just wondered if anyone here had any plans to Dev on the Pandora, and what language/environment you were planning to use.


And are you coding for the first time, or do you have coding experience from any of the classic computers of the past.


A pre-built self-contained Windows dev environment that could be used to build games directly for the Pandora would be absolutely perfect for me - but I'm guessing that something like this may never exist :(
 
Just wondered if anyone here had any plans to Dev on the Pandora, and what language/environment you were planning to use.
It's definitely possible. I've fixed few bugs right on Pandora (C language, Vim as environment).


But it's not very comfortable. Full-size keyboard/display is much more preferable for me. So IMHO Pandora is mostly for fun, not for coding.
 
I'm planning to develop for the Pandora. I don't like the overhead of IDEs like Visual Studio, so I use geany on Linux and Notepad++ on Windows. The big thing for me is syntax highlighting (and auto-detecting Win/Unix carriage returns). I write compile scripts (.sh in Linux, .bat in Windows) so I don't have to remember the compile commands. I should probably move to makefiles, though. If you're planning on learning C/C++, you probably don't need to worry about toolchains for a little bit.


And don't be afraid of Linux. Even I can use it.
 
It's definitely possible. I've fixed few bugs right on Pandora (C language, Vim as environment).


But it's not very comfortable. Full-size keyboard/display is much more preferable for me. So IMHO Pandora is mostly for fun, not for coding.

Aah - sorry. Obviously didn't make myself clear!


I didn't mean actually coding on the Pandora machine itself - I just meant developing for it B)


Although the idea of coding on the go with the device itself is quite intriguing - maybe this would be a simple way of setting up a generic linux development environment for all newbie would-be coders like me?!


Everything needed on a PND - just code and compile/debug/etc....


Nice :p
 
You'll find all the instructions to start coding ON pandora or FOR pandora
wink.gif
 
Although TBH Linux and Dev toolchains scare the bejesus out of me :blink:


Just wondered if anyone here had any plans to Dev on the Pandora, and what language/environment you were planning to use.
Linux seems to be really easy for development, at least compared to my experience in Windows.


Here's what I plan to do:


1. Install SSHFS on the Pandora


2. Have the Pandora mount a development directory somewhere on my laptop


3. Use Kate or Qt Creator on my laptop as usual, but don't compile anything.


4. Run the ARM compiler and execute the program from the Pandora


This way I'll always have a native build, I can use my nice 1920x1200 screen and keyboard for writing, and I don't have to worry about the difficulties of cross-compiling.


If the Pandora can mount Windows shares via Samba, you can do the same thing in Windows with Notepad++ or whatever you like.
 
^ This will probably be my method as well at least for smaller projects. I wouldn't compile something like firefox that way :lol:
 
^ This will probably be my method as well at least for smaller projects. I wouldn't compile something like firefox that way :lol:
Or Chromium.

...If you only want to look at the source code on your own machine, you'll need at least 1.6 GB of hard drive space available. (Somewhat less for Linux, since it already has some of the dependencies installed.) If you want to build it, you will need just under 10 GB of space, including all the object files and executables...
http://dev.chromium.org/developers/how-tos/get-the-code
 
^ well, you could always mount a working directory over wifi :D
That's exactly what I said. My laptop certainly has 11.6 GB of free space, and an SSH server for sshfs mounting. Now, I won't be building chromium or anything, just my small projects that use make and take up less than a megabyte (aside from sound / image, I'm not a demoscener) and build in like 5 seconds.


I also have a 3.5" hard disk enclosure that should work with the Pandora for 160GB of space whenever I'm able to plug it in. (Or drag my Sealed Lead-Acids everywhere and an inverter to power it)
 
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I find being productive on anything under 1080p of display resolution somewhat difficult, but that's probably mostly down to UI clutter.


I must say, though, compiling *on* the Pandora has got to be easier than faffing around with a toolchain. I once extracted a toolchain rootfs over my system rootfs...epic fail!


I'll certainly try to tinker about on the Pandora, though, I don't do a lot of C/C++, so hacking around on the Pandora will be a learning experience.
 
I plan to give codeblocks on Pandora a try, it's the IDE I've been learning C++ with. It's quite decent.
 
I plan to give codeblocks on Pandora a try, it's the IDE I've been learning C++ with. It's quite decent.

Not tried it myself, but it looks the part. The trouble is- the UI- I'm going to guess it can have most of the panels hidden, perhaps even has a full-screen mode... code completion is all most people want out of a dev environment anyway. I went from knowing next to zero PHP to bashing it out in Coda and learning the various functions on the go, all thanks to Code completion. The same might work for C, if I had the motivation.


Oh and a handy GUI to resolve all the esoteric compiler flags into something I can wrap my head 'round without crying would be nice.
 
That's exactly what I said. My laptop certainly has 11.6 GB of free space, and an SSH server for sshfs mounting. Now, I won't be building chromium or anything, just my small projects that use make and take up less than a megabyte (aside from sound / image, I'm not a demoscener) and build in like 5 seconds.


I also have a 3.5" hard disk enclosure that should work with the Pandora for 160GB of space whenever I'm able to plug it in. (Or drag my Sealed Lead-Acids everywhere and an inverter to power it)

Oh, true. Sorry. I somehow skimmed over your post and understood you were talking about mounting a directory located on the pandora to get rid of transferring files.
 
I *only* build Pandora apps, using the onboard compiler.


I have the Pandora and my Linux box connected by way of an sshfs mount - my Linux box mounts the fs from the Pandoras SD card. This way I can edit with my big screen and keyboard of my Linux PC, save the files, and then build on the Pandora.


To build, I have a standard good old Makefile with the default target "build", which actually is an ssh command to connect to the Pandora, cd to the right directory, and run the "compile" target, locally on the Pandora. This works so well! It means I can stay in vim on my main Linux PC with big screen and keyboard, simply type ":make", and it appears just like a normal compile/build session - albeit a bit slower than my PC normally is.


This also has the advantage that warnings/errors are output as normal, from the build, and vim picks them up and goes with it.


Its really, really convenient and hassle-free, and it means as long as I have my Pandora, I can use any workstation available to me to develop. I've even used my iPad+BluetoothKB combination to fix a few things here and there, mid-demo .. very smooth.


In short: compiler onboard works as a strategy and can be very productive. If you set it up properly, that is ..


EDIT: just to clarify, this sshfs mount method works just fine over Wifi, but its also very, very smooth and fast over USB-network between the main Linux PC and the Pandora. Just try it!
 
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I'm in the process of learning C and recently bought my Pandora. I plan on developing 2-D games for the Pandora. It seems like a great platform to code for, without any dumb toolchains or jailbreaking needed. I can't wait to hold it in my hands!
 
is anyone developing any interactive way of learning to program for/on the pandora. i know there are things like alice, but i think it would be cool to have it all on pandora, even making it into a game. also, i want to learn to code
 
Not tried it myself, but it looks the part. The trouble is- the UI- I'm going to guess it can have most of the panels hidden, perhaps even has a full-screen mode... code completion is all most people want out of a dev environment anyway. I went from knowing next to zero PHP to bashing it out in Coda and learning the various functions on the go, all thanks to Code completion. The same might work for C, if I had the motivation.


Oh and a handy GUI to resolve all the esoteric compiler flags into something I can wrap my head 'round without crying would be nice.

That's kinda the only issue. I thought about the QT IDE, as it seems to have a good capability of small GUI footprint, but I found it more of a hassle to set up. In fact, I gave up on it and carried on using CodeBlocks. which was comparatively easy to set up. I'm still a humble beginner, learning the dark world of C++, and I don't need the setup hassle.
 
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is anyone developing any interactive way of learning to program for/on the pandora. i know there are things like alice, but i think it would be cool to have it all on pandora, even making it into a game. also, i want to learn to code
Start with python and pygame. Once you've made a pygame you can package it as a pnd file which will run on the pandora.
 
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