I love the Easy C 2.0 graphical IDE but the development/debugging/testing cycle takes much longer than it should since each time the application must be downloaded and flashed on the Vex Controller. A lot of debugging/testing could be done on the host PC or laptop in a similar manner to Microsoft Visual C++ or Microchip MPLAB.
Unfortunately, it is not possible to implement hardware based debugging on the vex platform with the hardware that has been exposed. The only way to do debugging would be to add a layer of software between the hardware and the file uploaded. Unfortunately this adds overhead and was not the path intelitek chose when developing easyC.
As the platform grows we hope to increase our offering. Also, in easyC Pro we added an addressable terminal window. So you can develop a static display that aids in debugging.
How about a software based simulation of an Easy C 2.0 application similar to MPLAB/MPSIM?
MPLAB has hooks that are in the compiler to make that work. Seeing we don’t have access to the compiler source we can’t implement the debugging feature.
We are always looking to make easyC better, so if we find a way I’m sure it will be added to easyC Pro.
I don’t foresee advanced features like debugging ever finding a way into V2.
You can make a basic debugger yourself buy creating a function that waits for a digital input to continue. Print the variables you are concerned with to screen.