How NOT to write a logic simulator... - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: amyk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 07, 2014, 02:45:05 pm
content: I came across this and thought I'd try it out since it looked interesting:http://smartsim.org.uk/After figuring out the not-intuitive-at-all UI and trying to create a basic flip-flop, it crashed immediately when I tried to drag a wire that didn't like being dragged.The second time I got to simulation but somehow it made the flip-flop start to oscillate which hung the program in an annoying way.Here's what I could find wrong from just trying it out for <10 minutes:- no feedback at all when placing or moving components or wires- routing and connecting wires is a fiddly nightmare - one segment at a time- no context menus- no keyboard shortcuts- no NAND/NOR gates (you have to use an "invert tool" for that...)- no buses (but it supports hierarchical design; what good is that without buses?)- deleting a wire deletes the whole net!- no copy/paste- NO UNDO!And maybe this was too much to expect given the above- no delay or timing analysesAnd apparently this is already version1.4.../rant

author: Bored@Work
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 07, 2014, 06:28:27 pm
content: But you forgot the biggest advantage. It runs on the Raspberry Pi. Yes, olé, olé, olé, hallelujah, the Pi! All hail the Pi.Thank you Raspberry Pi Foundation for breading a new generation of rubbish programmers.

author: bwat
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 07, 2014, 06:43:27 pm
content: Quote from: Bored@Work on July 07, 2014, 06:28:27 pmCareful! Some of us who started off as rubbish programmers back in the era of the 8-bit 6502 based home computer - it's assembly or BASIC take your pick - turned out half decent in the end. There's always hope.

author: Bored@Work
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 07, 2014, 06:56:03 pm
content: Quote from: bwat on July 07, 2014, 06:43:27 pmThe difference is we didn't impose our rubbish on the unsuspecting public. We kept it in the privacy of our bedrooms.Android and Pi users both have this abnormal urge to do everything in the open.

author: Neilm
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 07, 2014, 07:12:58 pm
content: Quote from: amyk on July 07, 2014, 02:45:05 pmSo? NIs Labview didn't get an Undo until version 5.(and as you could delete a weeks work with a careless button press, you got very used to reloading.)

author: nitro2k01
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 07, 2014, 07:39:29 pm
content: Quote from: Bored@Work on July 07, 2014, 06:56:03 pmSure you don't mean Arduino?

author: Rigby
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 07, 2014, 07:48:36 pm
content: Quote from: Bored@Work on July 07, 2014, 06:28:27 pmI am fascinated by the RPi as a platform because of a few things; the hardware is rigidly defined, it has a modern OS, and it has GPIO. People who really, really push the boundaries in constrained resource environments often come up with really neat things.I agree with you, though, that the general "OMG Pi!!" attitude is undeserved. It's a computing platform. There have been many before, there will be many, many more. I wish folks would save their excitement for other single-board-computers. The BeagleBone Black, for example.I'd bet thatLogisimwould run on the Pi, and it's a fine piece of software, IME.

author: katzohki
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 07, 2014, 07:52:12 pm
content: Quote from: Bored@Work on July 07, 2014, 06:28:27 pmYes, please, avoid "breading" rubbish programmers.Then again...