Do you prototype code in another language?

Post by **benryves** » Fri 31 Mar, 2006 11:32 am

I was just curious as to whether people prototype code in another language before rewriting it in assembly, ala Ken Silverman and QuickBasic.

I find it a lot easier to work in a higher level language to try and work out how to do something before implementing it in Z80. I'll start with everything in floating point, then slowly convert down to fixed point until it's all using 16-bit or 8-bit variables. Some things, if I can automatically think of them in a fixed-point style, I'll write in Z80 assembly straight up.

Does anyone else do this?

CoBB · Post by **CoBB** » Fri 31 Mar, 2006 11:47 am

Not for Z80 projects, those are simple enough (at least the ones I made so far) to be quite tractable. As for bigger ones, I found that prototyping in a high-level domain specific language can be very helpful. One example was a parse tree postprocessor which transformed trees by certain rules and also required pattern matching. I wrote a prototype in Prolog, then rewrote it in C++ after the algorithm reached its final shape.

Timendus · Post by **Timendus** » Fri 31 Mar, 2006 11:59 am

I usually don't, but sometimes when I start working on something new, something I have never done before, I prefer to try things out in a language I am most comfortable with at that time, before rewriting it in the desired language. That way I spend less time implementing and more time thinking about the logic behind it, which can be quite beneficial.

kalan_vod · Post by **kalan_vod** » Fri 31 Mar, 2006 4:06 pm

I agree with Timendus, though I don't code in z80 Asm I have done something similar to this. When I was in Comp Sci I used to code the assignment in TI-Basic, which would get me thinking of the logic rather than the actual code, then go onto the computer and code it. Sadly it was a Java class, but I was able to do some things in it.

Post by **Dwedit** » Fri 31 Mar, 2006 4:43 pm

Psuedocode is a valuable tool, code it up in that language, then translate it to whatever.

KermMartian · Post by **KermMartian** » Fri 31 Mar, 2006 5:02 pm

Never. Sometimes I flowchart, but I don't prototype at all before ASMing it.

Spencer · Post by **Spencer** » Fri 31 Mar, 2006 5:16 pm

That's an interesting question. I'd say all of us rely on some sort of organizational tool if we're working on a particularly tricky algorithm. Higher level languages are quite useful since, often, there are obvious analogues to our assembly. Dry erase boards are actually my preference.

Gambit · Post by **Gambit** » Fri 31 Mar, 2006 5:58 pm

If it's a "simple" program, then no, I jump straight to low level logic and add comments to supplement the lack of pre-code. For any massive project, however, I write the logic in pseudocode (on paper if I'm at school, in a text editor at home), where it is then broken down to low-level logic (i.e. routines, macros, defines), and finally coded (with comments). This "modularization" method (+comments) eliminates most of the potential logic errors and therefore I don't have to recode it after a month just because "the code is weird" or "I don't know what the * I did"

the_unknown_one · Post by **the_unknown_one** » Fri 31 Mar, 2006 6:04 pm

I don't, except if i'm making something for calculator which I already made on PC.

Post by **tr1p1ea** » Fri 31 Mar, 2006 8:46 pm

I used to do that a bit when i was learning z80, but only on some of the tougher things. It can be really helpful if the algorithm in question is pretty large. Plus if its something that is unproven, it can be a nice way to validate it quicker.

thegamefreak0134 · Post by **thegamefreak0134** » Fri 31 Mar, 2006 9:01 pm

I do things backwards. I code my ideas in Calculator BASIC before doing anything in GBA code. This way, I can see my logic run "as it happens" due to the calcs slowness, and pretty much identify any logic errors in real time. Being able to easily look at variable values is nice too, as you can see them even if the program crashes.

threefingeredguy · Post by **threefingeredguy** » Fri 31 Mar, 2006 9:10 pm

I do what tgf does.

KevinJB · Post by **KevinJB** » Sat 01 Apr, 2006 12:15 am

When I was in Comp Sci I used to code the assignment in TI-Basic, which would get me thinking of the logic rather than the actual code, then go onto the computer and code it. Sadly it was a Java class, but I was able to do some things in it.

Dude! Me too, same situation!

kalan_vod · Post by **kalan_vod** » Sat 01 Apr, 2006 2:25 am

Rezek wrote:
When I was in Comp Sci I used to code the assignment in TI-Basic, which would get me thinking of the logic rather than the actual code, then go onto the computer and code it. Sadly it was a Java class, but I was able to do some things in it.
Dude! Me too, same situation!

Cool, now I don't feel alone!

Liazon · Post by **Liazon** » Sun 02 Apr, 2006 2:57 pm

I'm still really bad at coding and I find it just hard to convert pseudo code to real code sometimes because I still don't know all the little details of z80 and C syntax