John - please get your red marker out!

[steveo]

As I'm learning I wanted to challenge myself to re-creating your "fire flies" program.

My code seems to work great, and from I can perceive re-creates your original more or less. That bad part is after I finished I went back to see how you did it, and your approach seem (lack of better term) much fancier.

I was hoping you can take a look below, and basically tell me where I could have improved my thinking.

Thanks!

' {$STAMP BS1}
' {$PBASIC 1.0}
' {$PORT COM1}

SYMBOL      PIN           = B2
SYMBOL      Lottery       = W5
SYMBOL      Brightness    = B4
SYMBOL      PINCheck      = B3
SYMBOL      WaitTime      = W6


Main:

RANDOM Lottery
PIN = Lottery // 6

IF PINCheck = PIN THEN Main

  FOR Brightness = 0 TO 255 STEP 1
    PWM  PIN, Brightness, 1
  NEXT

HIGH PIN
PAUSE 300

  FOR Brightness = 255 TO 0 STEP -1
    PWM  PIN, Brightness, 1
  NEXT

RANDOM lottery
WaitTime = lottery // 200 * 20
PAUSE WaitTime

PINCheck = PIN

GOTO Main

[JonnyMac]

1) My name is spelled J-o-n -- there is no "h" to be found within.  I've tried dropping hints (e.g., "Stehvio") but that hasn't worked.
    -- in programming, noticing little details like this is important.   ;)

2) If your code works, use it.

3) My code probably looks fancier because I'm an anal-retentive nut when it comes to formatting.  My guidelines are contained in "The Elements of PBASIC Style"; a document I wrote while working for Parallax and that you can now find in the BASIC Stamp Editor Help file.

Suggestions
-- Use a template that divides the program into sections; this keeps thing orderly and prevents the whoopsies...
-- In my world, variable names start with a lowercase letter; constants and labels start with an uppercase letter (see the Elements doc)
-- Don't use the word "PIN" as this is a keyword in PBASIC 2.5; this could show up with the Prop-1 if PBASIC 1.5 ever happens (I'm pushing for it)
-- Labels are in column one, code should be indented by two spaces, blocks two additional spaces.

As you might imagine, I write a lot of programs for a lot of people, so I don't know which one of my originals you're referring to.  I can tell that your program is randomly selecting and then ramping up an output.  While it doesn't allow the same output to repeat, it may -- depending on how the numbers fall -- skip a given output for several cycles.  I often employ a "play list" technique to ensure that all outputs are played on a given cycle before restarting.

[steveo]

Jonn,

Thank you for the input. How would you implement said "play list"?


Thanks

Steve

p.s.
Subtle never works on me, ask my wife. Sorry about the name (mis)spelling!

[JonnyMac]

Apparently obvious doesn't work, either -- my name is still spelled J-o-n.  What's with the extra letter?.... first an h, now an errant n.   ;D

In this thread I implemented a play list in the program; note that it takes a little work and a few variables in the Prop-1; this process is a little easier in the [more advanced] Prop-2.

http://www.efx-tek.com/php/smf/index.php?topic=182.0

[steveo]

Considering my recent  misspellings of your name, and your correction thereof, I thought the extra "n" would be a bit of humor. Email is truly a terrible medium for sarcasm.

Seriously though, thanks for all the pointers.