[Cuis-dev] Hello, new Cuis smalltalk user here!

Nicola Mingotti nmingotti at gmail.com
Mon Jul 19 02:28:59 PDT 2021


I add a tiny bit to what Phi wrote.

IMO, the easiest way to realize the fish tank project is this. But 
requires Linux/Unix knowledge
if you don't have it better to stick with Arduino and the serial port.

Buy a BeableBone Black/Green (just like Rpi, but better for 
electronics). Plug a screen into it, install Cuis there.
Buy I2C sensors. Read stuff via I2C.
The Cuis part would be only to: 1) send shell commands to Linux 
underlying to get I2C data 2) display stuff
graphically.

If you want complex graphics, logs etc it can take a while, otherwise 
from the point of view of Cuis
it is not difficult.

After that, it may become a bigger project if you want to reach you fish 
tank data when
you are out of the house via mobile phone.

Anyway, this is the "dream" application. For now let's focus on 
arithmetics ;)

 From the point of view of the Cuis part of your project i would say 
intermediate goals are:
1) read data from file [or generate random data]
2) in the World put some labels saying:
Temperature | X1
Light | X2
etc.
3) Have the values X1, X2 ... X3 update every second (reading from file 
or from random data)


bye
Nicola








On 7/19/21 5:05 AM, Phil B wrote:
> Joseph,
>
> My .02 is to go with the fish tank idea.  It's something you have so 
> obviously care about.  A big part of programming is sticking with and 
> many people have a problem staying focused to see projects through.  
> Having a goal you really care about helps dramatically with keeping 
> your motivation up and actually finishing it.
>
> You're probably thinking right now about maybe keeping a log and 
> graphing it which would be a great starting point. However, you could 
> do much more with it (just google 'arduino aquarium') if you were 
> interested... all being monitored/controlled from Cuis.  Doing 
> software + hardware projects is even more work so if that 
> interests you, think of it as a long term project and just start with 
> the software side of it for now. (if you end up going down the 
> hardware path, start with monitoring hardware as some of the 
> automation stuff can be dangerous to the fish if you make a mistake.  
> So wait until you develop a level of confidence in your skills before 
> going there.)
>
> Thanks,
> Phil
>
> On Sun, Jul 18, 2021 at 7:14 PM Joseph Turco via Cuis-dev 
> <cuis-dev at lists.cuis.st <mailto:cuis-dev at lists.cuis.st>> wrote:
>
>     One more thing,
>
>     For programs, the first thing I can think of is making a fake ATM
>     machine, don't have anything else really in mind yet. I don't
>     think my mind has fully expanded to appreciate the language to
>     pick other projects. The other I can think of actually would be
>     making a program to track my fish tank parameters (ammonia,
>     nitrities, nitrates, PH, GH, KH and temp). That would be really
>     cool as well.
>
>
>     Sent from ProtonMail mobile
>
>
>
>     -------- Original Message --------
>     On Jul 18, 2021, 6:55 PM, Nicola Mingotti via Cuis-dev <
>     cuis-dev at lists.cuis.st <mailto:cuis-dev at lists.cuis.st>> wrote:
>
>
>
>         Hi Joseph,
>
>         Define a little program you would like to write.
>
>         E.g. The first program i really wrote because i wanted it was
>         an alarm playing a certain mp3
>         at increasing volume in the morning. Probably it was a Bash
>         script. I wrote some C code
>         before that, but it was for univ. assignment, not the same
>         thing, at all.
>
>         This is the best way to learn anything, keep a target in front
>         of you, a problem to be solved ;)
>
>         To learn Smalltalk takes some time because it is a system, not
>         just a programming language.
>         To me it took time to wrap my mind around it and still i am
>         not that advanced.
>         TheCuisBook is a book about the Smalltalk SYSTEM called Cuis.
>         It takes in a LOT of stuff.
>         Digest it slowly. Use other sources as well, ask questions.
>
>         The first things you must understand are: variables, loops and
>         tests and the most basic kind
>         of objects like Strings and Numbers, List, Date etc. Focus on
>         that ! Explore the "TereseGuide". (TerseGuideWindow
>         openTerseGuide . )
>         Work in the Workspace and Transcript. Forget defining new
>         Classes for the moment, use
>         what Cuis has already defined for you.
>
>         Don't change dialect, if you start jumping from Cuis to Squeak
>         to Pharo to esleTalk you will get extremely confused.
>
>         Don't give up, this is the most beautiful way you can use a
>         computer.
>
>         Maybe in the next weeks I may have time to put online a video
>         tutorial about the language,
>         which is actually the easiest part of Smalltalk. OOP is your
>         friend, you will see, it is there to
>         make things simpler.
>
>         bye ;)
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>         On 7/18/21 10:56 PM, Joseph Turco via Cuis-dev wrote:
>>         No problem. As for a other mini update. I'm still for the
>>         most part having to look at the solutions. Maybe I'm not very
>>         good with smalltalk. Maybe its OOP I can't understand, but I
>>         really don't feel like I'm learning much. I am in no way
>>         saying its an issue with the book, it just might be at a
>>         level that is not basic enough for me. I would like to hear
>>         what peoples thoughts are on this. Maybe its OK that I'm
>>         looking at the answers?
>>
>>
>>         Sent from ProtonMail mobile
>>
>>
>>
>>         -------- Original Message --------
>>         On Jul 18, 2021, 4:31 PM, Hilaire Fernandes via Cuis-dev <
>>         cuis-dev at lists.cuis.st <mailto:cuis-dev at lists.cuis.st>> wrote:
>>
>>
>>             Thanks for the feedback. I will add details
>>
>>             Hilaire
>>
>>
>>             Le 17/07/2021 à 03:06, Joseph Turco a écrit :
>>>
>>>             You mentioned about me looking for anything in the book,
>>>             and I do have one thing to mention. Some of the
>>>             exercises are kinda difficult and I've had to goto the
>>>             solution. Most of them made sense after looking at the
>>>             solution, but some of them I don't understand. For example.
>>>
>>>             Exercise 4.9
>>>
>>>             ($A to: $Z) collect [:c | (c asciiValue - 65 + 3 \\ 26 +
>>>             65) asCharacter] .
>>>
>>>             I have no clue how that math calculation works at all.
>>
>>             --
>>             GNU Dr. Geo
>>             http://drgeo.eu  <http://drgeo.eu>
>>
>>
>
>         -- 
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>

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