My team is ready to start Building our robot for this year and will be using V5s for the first time.
My Question is what do i use to program our robot. I know that the original platform was Vex Coding Studio, but have heard that this is having problems. VEXcode is an option I think but am wondering which one to use. I have started to figure some things out on VCS so if we could use that it would be our preference.
Thanks, Team 99750A
If you feel comfortable using VCS, go ahead, there is nothing that will competitively harm you.
The biggest reason people hate VCS is that the editor sucks, the documentation is lacking, and there have been no improvements on a software that was extremely beta to start with.
For people like me who are used to programming in nice environments, VCS is painful to use. I would not use it ever, especially since it has terrible performance.
However, if you enjoy the simplicity of the motor config, and having the commands listed in the editor, VCS is still the best option. You may not even end up using any of the functionality of VEXCode that makes it more desirable.
If you use VCS and notice nothing terribly wrong with it, then stick with it. But as soon as you get experienced enough to realize you are being limited and are missing out on a better software, then it is time to switch over. That way you can decide for yourself why VCS is terrible.
Switching over is not a difficult process, as they have the same API.
VEXCode is great, but it does not hold your hand quite as much as VCS, in terms of motor config or the command palate. I would recommend using it, but depending how new you are to programming, VCS might still be the simplest option.
That all makes sense. I have been programming for a little while, but I think I will start with VCS and see what I think. Then I can switch over when I am ready. It sounds like it is a little easier to learn/get the hang of the new coding using VCS.
Thanks for all of the information about the two.
Team 99750A
Do you have any recommended resources for someone wanting to learn C/C++ in order to switch from VCS to PROS?
If you are committed, it is worth reading through all of learncpp.com (excluding chp. 0).
I know it is a lot of reading, but it will teach you everything you need to use PROS effectively.
However, you don’t need it. PROS is just C/C++ with a similar API as all the other solutions. There is nothing particularly complicated with it. It is only as complicated as the user makes it.
However, PROS allows for more complex programs, and has a lot more features and libraries you can use. That is why it is good to know your way around C++, so you can properly use PROS the way it is meant to be used.
PROS is not great for beginners simply because it is more open and vast, so programmers need to know more to be able to navigate around and understand what is going on.
You can make very similar code as VCS if you choose, its just that PROS prompts you to become a better programmer by learning how to refactor and abstract your code, and exposing you to more C/C++ lingo and functionality than you would otherwise encounter in VCS.
If you know how to make things more neat, use header files, understand C++ beyond copy/paste, and know how to properly structure C/C++ programs, you will have a much better experience with using PROS.
Edit: learncpp.com chapter 1-8 are the most important, though if I had to pick the best, 2, 4, 6, and 7 are the most important.