Running PureBasic Apps on Embedded Single Board Computers

[tseyfarth]

Hello all!

I am evaluating PureBasic as a tool to develop a RS232 Serial polling/Database application to run on single board computers using Linux as its OS. The SBC is from www.embeddedARM.com and features an ARM9 processor.

The application will be developed on a Windoz computer, then ported to the target SBC. However before investing a lot of time, I want to be sure that this product will run well in this environment. Since I have not a clue about Linux, I thought this would be the best forum to ask the question.

To elaborate a little on the project, the SBC will be a head end that will poll a number of remote devices where the remote devices will both supply data to the SBC and the SBC will be sending commands to them. The SBC will be performing many "reads and writes" to a MySQL database. Further, we may elect to use an add on product from this same company that provides several isolated RS485 I/O. This would be used instead of the RS232 serial port.

Can anyone provide some feedback on this?

Thank you!
Tim

[freak]

PureBasic does not support the ARM processor family. Only x86 and x64 (and PowerPC on the Mac)

[tseyfarth]

bummer... can you suggest an alternative?

Thank you
Tim

[IdeasVacuum]

Well yes, given that you want to do your development on Windows, specify an X86 SBC with a Windows OS instead of the ARM9/Linux. Then you can use PB.......

[tseyfarth]

I really don't want to use a Windows OS. Otherwise, I'd go with an Intel MB. They are rather nice, but really do not windoz in this product.

Any other ideas?
Thank you
Tim

[IdeasVacuum]

Well, C is a viable alternative, interesting PDF on the subject (ARM9):

http://www.bipom.com/documents/boards/g ... 0Linux.pdf

[tseyfarth]

C is what they all really want you to use. I really prefer not to go through the learning curve or the drain bramage of learning new syntax etc etc. Bad enough all of the new stuff in this without adding that. Hence the reason to look for a BASIC compiler.

Too bad, PB really looked cool. And from what I've seen, there is kind a cult like following which typically means it IS good, has been around for a long time, and is reliable with lots of users - AND a friendly forum for newbies!

Thank you again!
Tim

[IdeasVacuum]

Hi Tim

PB is excellent - I'm a C developer by trade but I use PB a lot these days. This forum is one of the best on any subject - there are many expert members who are very generous with their time, and whole solutions are freely available too.

C is in fact very simple and easy, though you have to re-invent the wheel from time to time. I'd recommend a very light read, 'C Programming in Easy Steps by Mike McGrath' - you will be up to speed in C very quickly indeed.

# ISBN-10: 1840783230
# ISBN-13: 978-1840783230

If you outgrow McGrath's book, the only other book on C that you will ever need is 'C Programming A Modern Approach', by K N King. It's big, it's beautiful, every page can be understood by anybody with a brain cell.

# ISBN-10: 0393979504
# ISBN-13: 978-0393979503

[tseyfarth]

I like that!

can be understood by anybody with a brain cell.

Thanks for the tips. I'll buy the books even just for background!

It seems that going from VB6 to anything else, is in general, quite painful! There are so many built-in pre-made components that can and I am sure do make like easier, knowing about them, which one to use, when and where is just one challenge.

Perhaps, in my case it is just the *fear* of the unknown or the overwhelming component. Or perhaps just getting out of the safety zone is part of the problem.

Hence at least part of the learning curve.

In any case, I agree about this forum and thank you all for your ideas and suggestions.

Will get the book from my local Borders!

Thanks again!
Tim

[IdeasVacuum]

....Amazon is a good place to look too but try a Google search for the ISBNs.

I have used VB but only because I had to

There are C libs to make your life easier but I expect ARM have a few goodies available. These guys sound as though they know a thing or two about ARM:

http://www.keil.com

[Tenaja]

The only arm basic I'm aware of is by Coridium Corp (top of Arm basic search)...but they aren't really viable for commercial applications, since they charge $5 per product you sell.

[tseyfarth]

Not to get confused, on my part, I do not want to write anything that will actually control the uC, but a higher level to run on top of Linux. I may be getting confused or not, just not really understanding the details to what I am wanting to accomplish (another part of the learning curve!).

Is what you guys are suggesting that direction? This is where one of the issues has come up with finding the best tools for me to develop with. First looking for Cross Platform, thinking just the OS was important (having come from a strictly Wintel environment) to now finding that while PB will run on Linux, but it wont run on linux on top of an ARM processor.

Some have suggested Q7, and in fact there is an Alpha Q7Basic product which has a brother KBasic which is also based on Q7. The Q7B product is too new, but it does have some promise I think. It takes basic syntax, converts to C++ files, then uses the Q7 platform to compile to the target OS using either a GCC C++ or VS C++ compiler.

I did see the Keil product and was scared away by the licensing.

Thanks again!
Tim

[IdeasVacuum]

...PB runs on Linux, but does not support ARM9 (Does not compile for that processor family)

It looks like all the lib support for ARM is 3rd Party:

http://arm.com/products/tools/software-tools/index.php

You might find therefore that the Coridium Basic offering is viable - really depends on the value of the product you are building, if it sells for thousands then the Coridium royalty might be OK. Their Basic compiler is free if used with their devices.......

Another option would be to retire to a remote, deserted island with Cheryl Cole and forget about programming!

....or get someone to write an ARM compiler for PB.

[tseyfarth]

Will PB run in on a 586 CPU running linux?

TY
Tim

[IdeasVacuum]

Hi Tim

i586 is the Intel Pentium series, so the answer is yes:

http://www.purebasic.com/introduction_linux.php