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|It's incredibly frustrating, after years of being in a relative comfort zone with the realm of general desktop/server software, to try to learn more about embe

by blhack 16y ago

|It's incredibly frustrating, after years of being in a relative comfort zone with the realm of general desktop/server software, to try to learn more about embedded, and then be uncertain as to what materials you even need. That is, to me, one of the greatest feelings in the entire world. I remember being a kid and installing a qbasic compiler for the first time. HOLY CRAP it was like learning magic. There was SO much wonder. Now it's just work. I know how to make my computer do pretty much whatever I want. Microcontrollers offer me the opportunity to experience that wonder of learning something new again.

alnayyir 16y ago
I don't think you understand what I was describing as frustrating. Ignorance isn't the problem, it's the uncertainty of tools and "what I need to get started". I love solving problems, discovering new things, but the whole embedded dev experience is disempowering because a single mistake in ordering can mean waiting days/weeks to resolve a missing part, not clicking to another website for a missing download. The whole stack lacks the flexibility of software, for obvious reasons, as much as I love it so far.
- lzell 16y ago
  That's part of what makes it exciting! I was a hardware engineer before switching to software. At that time, we used to say to the software guys "if you guys screw up your design, you recompile; if we screw up, we have to update the schematic, update the cad drawings, order new pcb boards, wait a few weeks, and hope it works next time". The pressure made it fun. Not to mention playing with oscilloscopes and function generators. If it was a minor glitch you could get by by chopping some pins or doing some soldering. Man, that was a good first job out of college. Oh and I'm definitely ordering one of these, even though I haven't used Windows in a few years either. I've got a box with xp somewhere...
  - tkahn6 16y ago
    He's not frustrated with the unforgivability of hardware design. He's frustrated with the overhead involved in getting started learning the ropes (finding the right tools, learning about the conventions involved in identifying the right parts).

by blhack 16y ago

alnayyir 16y ago

I don't think you understand what I was describing as frustrating. Ignorance isn't the problem, it's the uncertainty of tools and "what I need to get started". I love solving problems, discovering new things, but the whole embedded dev experience is disempowering because a single mistake in ordering can mean waiting days/weeks to resolve a missing part, not clicking to another website for a missing download. The whole stack lacks the flexibility of software, for obvious reasons, as much as I love it so far.

lzell 16y ago
That's part of what makes it exciting! I was a hardware engineer before switching to software. At that time, we used to say to the software guys "if you guys screw up your design, you recompile; if we screw up, we have to update the schematic, update the cad drawings, order new pcb boards, wait a few weeks, and hope it works next time". The pressure made it fun. Not to mention playing with oscilloscopes and function generators. If it was a minor glitch you could get by by chopping some pins or doing some soldering. Man, that was a good first job out of college. Oh and I'm definitely ordering one of these, even though I haven't used Windows in a few years either. I've got a box with xp somewhere...
- tkahn6 16y ago
  He's not frustrated with the unforgivability of hardware design. He's frustrated with the overhead involved in getting started learning the ropes (finding the right tools, learning about the conventions involved in identifying the right parts).