[sdiy] Programming Language Recommendation

[Spiros Makris]

Hi,
STM32 has its own libraries (nicknamed "HAL" - hardware abstraction layer)
which in many ways feels like an arduino; of course the names of the
functions and the structure of the whole thing is different, but the goal
is similar.
The controllers you're probably interested in all use C/C++ so as far as
languages go, that's the most obvious (and reasonable) choice. C can be
confusing but I think most of it should be within reach for anyone with a
programming affinity.
Don't get into the library trap that many Arduino developers seem to fall.
They are nice to kickstart a project and give you an idea of how things
work but don't be fooled into thinking that you can postpone learning the
"deeper" stuff forever. Hopefully, all the stuff you need will be out
there, maintained and working well; that has rarely been the case for me,
there's always something missing and you have to fill in the blanks.
Try not to think of embedded C like you would a high-level scripting
language like python. You are not commanding obscure black boxes around and
some manager just figures it out - you need to be conscious of what you are
asking the system to do and very specific as to how it will be done.
Abstraction, objects and other such features help you manage this
complexity, but it will always be there to an extend.
Arduino (atmega328p basically) is perfectly capable of doing lots of
stuff.  It certainly can't do DSP, but that's only a small part of what
digital modules do inside our synths. Unless you really are shooting for
sound processing or generation chances are an Arduino nano will do just
fine.

Spiros

On Thu, Dec 3, 2020 at 4:49 AM Shawn Rakestraw <shawnrakestraw at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Please don't go into extreme detail (unless you really want to). I ask too
> many simple questions and I feel bad that everyone spends great amounts of
> time with it.
>
> I am thinking about programming ARM chips like the STM32 for something
> like Braids. I know that I will not be making my own Braids module anytime
> soon, but I would like to start thinking about the language I need to
> learn. I know the most about C++. I also realize that my question may be
> better asked as what libraries should I load / study up on.
>
> Thanks guys/gals
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