William Couture <bcouture <at> gmail.com> writes:

<SNIP>

>=20
> C-like syntax definitely preferred.
>=20

William,=20
the least lerning curve will likely be with Qt.
It allows making console projects, so you do not have to have the "bloat"
associated with GUI if you do not need one. You can use C or C++ (although =
I
used only C++ option, I think one can do just C).
For serial port access, I use and recommend QExtSerial library.=20
All of these are free. =20
=20
Other nice option for "glue" software is perl.=20

Virtual Machines:
I recommend VMWare Player. =20
Host OS can be Windows, Linux (probably others as well, but I have
experience with these 2).=20
Guest OS - almost any.  If you like, run WinXP or even DOS and have all you=
r
programs in the same environment.  WM Player allows easy access to
peripherals, including serial port.  In addition, you can use file for
serial i/o - great for debugging.=20

hope this helps,=20

Sergey Dryga
http://beaglerobotics.com


--=20
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