Unless you’ve really gotten down deep with easyC, the two will transfer quite well. However, if you’ve gotten deep into the subject of C programming - you will find some design-patterns will not transfer smoothly to robotC.
EasyC is unmanaged where as RobotC is managed - this introduces some rather dramatic changes in both the method of programmig & the functionalty of the code. Though you probably wont ever need to know of or even reach the limitations imposed by a manged environment, you should know there are some very annoying limitations in RobotC’s managed environment in particular.
In robotC, you give up:
-Recursive calling(all ‘local’ variables are declared as (virtually) static local variables - they are treated as global variables by the compiler, opposed EasyC which stores these variables on the stack-frame)
-String length limits (20 chars)
- Max of 160 allowed sub-routines r functions (you probably wont hit this limit - but it is very annoying to reach - basically throw using more than one simple library out the window)
-No pointers or native dynamic memory allocation (there are hacky ways around dynamic memory allocation)
-No linker exists for multiple source files, so you have to include the source files
-IDE for managing multiple source files seems rather messy when compared to easyC
-No linking to other libraries.
-I find a lot of RobotC code tends to stick in one source file and this creates rather messy and cryptic code - though comments do help in large modules.
However RobotC is much easier to program in versus programming in C. While what is done in RobotC is definitely doable in easyC - it would take a little more work to do somethings like multi-threading or OOP in easyC. Though the way RobotC implements multi-threading makes it very prone to misuse (Treat them as seperate programs and not threads in the same module)
Most people I have talked to have trouble looking past the block-editor and exploring the code text editor of easyc where they are able to freely program code in C.
Being experienced in C, C++ and C# .Net, I tend to stick towards C as it allows me to apply a lot of what I already know; beginners (rather, I should say, people introduced to programming via vex) tend to preffer robotC.
Basically,
For common use:
-Virtually no difference at all. I like the API based interface to the sensors found in easyC.
Speaking more technically:
RobotC:
-IDE a little cluttered (personal preference.)
-Virtual simulator good for testing code.
-Debugger makes it much easier to debug code.
-Cheaper than EasyC, at roughly $49 (opposed to easyc, $75)
-MUCH easier to implement multi-threading (though it is prone to misuse, see above)
-Subject to all the restrictions above.
EasyC:
-More difficult, but a Drag & Drop interface is accessible for new-comers.
-More control over the cortex
-IDE is very well organized and is very easily adaptable to if you’ve used something like MSVC++
-Implements anything you’d ever use in the C standard library, so if you’ve worked with C before, you’ll be very comfortable with the environment.
-Unmanaged
-Void of the above limitations
-Does not have classes - though an OOP system is not hard to implement with a bit of practice.
-Supports linking and compiling of object files.
-Potential for multi-threading, but not implemented via the API as seen in RobotC. One would have to program the interrupt timer. (keeping in mind 99.99% of the time, if you know how to and you can, you should never multi-thread)
-No debugger (this is a very big con for easyC.), HOWEVER, doing software based tests by literally plugging this code in to a C++ or C compiler is very easy to do and monitor its performance. I usually write the code in to Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 IDE, compile & resolve any logic errors and then load it in to my easyc project.
