On Wed, Jan 25, 2006 at 10:21:28AM -0600, Mike Hord wrote:
> Wow.  Lots to comment on!

So I'm going to snip some.

> Actually, I think the best way to go would be
> buying each student a PICKit2 low pin count
> demo board for $24, and then building them
> a Wisp628 on perfboard.  I should be able to
> put together a Wisp628 for not much more
> than $10-$15, if I'm buying bits 10 at a time.

I disagree. For some reason I seem to be one of the few folks
on the list who doesn't think that the development environment
is too particularly important.

> I agree with the assessment that breadboards
> and bootloaders are inappropriate for this venue.


> Breadboards are pricey and can add a very
> frustrating element to troubleshooting for a novice.

While they are certainly not a good target for permanent projects,
breadboards are a quick and effective way to get started without
having to spend a lot of time in the process of assembling hardware.
Soldering is an acquired skill. Soldering mistakes are rampant.

Truthfully I'm still a wire wrap guy for that reason. I have boards
that have been in operations from 5-10 years that I've wirewrapped.

> Bootloaders can be overwritten,

True. On the other hand you have control on exactly what features
it presents.

> require some
> fancy footwork in coding (or at least, fancier than
> the simplest blink-an-led code),

That's a design choice. Bootloaders like Wouter's WLoader is
virtually transparent to the target code. The only hoop is the
memory that the bootloader occupies. WLoader also protects itself
from being overwritten. And the single pin serial interface imposes 
a minimal I/O budget.

An appropriate bootloader can be picked or engineered for the class.

> and don't get the student anywhere after the class is done, if
> they decide they'd like to pursue more projects
> on their own.

Why? While I agree that it may limit chip choices to those that
can be bootloaded, and that you need an initial bootstrap for a blank
chip, what other issues are there?

More later, I've got to run.

BAJ
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