Would you be interested in a monthly Zoom Meeting on everything coding on RISC OS?

To everyone interested,
It’s something that a number of us have mentioned many times, but it never really came to fruition. Recently I asked the same question on both Tweeter and Facebook RISC OS communities and both have responded in a really positive way. So let’s also try the ROOL forum (given that some here do not use social media).

The idea is to start a monthly zoom meeting where we all can learn, share and discuss coding techniques, debugging techniques, sharing pieces of code describing them and the problems and solutions around them, as well as having a dedicated section to learn how to code on RISC OS (for multiple programming languages).

I already have found RISC OS developers excited at the idea and willing to help, but I wish to extend the invitation to everyone here as well as to the ROOL, ROD and obviously RISCOS.info team and all the RO clubs.

For who doesn’t feel confident (or just doesn’t like) to be in a zoom meeting, we are thinking of recording the sessions and then posting the videos on YouTube so that really everyone can benefit from this and at your own desire and availability.

There are already people interested from different countries, so we’ll need to figure out a time and date that works for most of us, we have few in the US, others in EU and the majority in the UK at the moment.

Yesterday, we had a chat at the ROUGOL meeting about ideas for a format and we have came out with (after suggestions from John R., Charles F., Bryan H., Vince H. and others) to do something like:

- 2 parts meeting
- 1st part (beginners) dedicated to learn how to code on RISC OS (presentations from various community members on how to code on RO in various languages)
- 2nd part (advanced) dedicated to people to share their code, techniques, workflows etc. Everyone can take the mic here and share what we are working on and present projects (please note: it’s a coding meeting, so code needs to be showed lol it’s not about selling things!), we can also go “round table” and everyone can share their progress and struggles in their coding journey/project.

Recordings will be split too, so people willing to watch on YouTube will have an easy life to find what they need.

Each part will have a QA session at the end.

The meetings will be in an informal format, on the theme of something like “bring your drinks and code”, so no need for sophisticated presentations. The goal is to share, spread and preserve RISC OS coding knowledge.

Obviously, I am open to suggestions and ideas to make it better, so feel free to share your ideas, thanks in advance for all your feedback :)

F.A.Qs:

- Can I join just to watch? Yes, absolutely!
- Do I need to use cam and such? No
- Does it works on RISC OS? Zoom does not work on RISC OS, but it works on Windows, Linux, macOS and all the BSD family. Works on Raspberry Pi running one of the modern OS mentioned.
- What time and date? We are still figuring this out, everyone please suggest best time and week days that work for you
- Can we look at demos code and techniques? Yes, absolutely. It is not limited to a particular type of software, there will be presenters which will also share porting RISC OS to other boards, or writing drivers for RO etc. as well as writing multi-tasking Apps and all the techniques etc.
- Can we talk about how to write games on RO? Yes, absolutely! :)
- Will there be a beginners session? Yes, part 1 of each meetings should be beginner level
- Is it another general meeting? No, it’s only about coding on RISC OS and sharing code and techniques.

[edit]

Collecting ideas and resources here: https://github.com/RISC-OS-Community/CodingOnRISC-OS

If you’re willing to help and add your ideas/corrections/fixes/improvements please make sure you pull down the `develop` brach after you’ve cloned the repo, that’s where the fun is happening. When things will be reviewed they will be added in the main branch for everyone to use.

[/edit]

Seems a good idea to me

Me too.

In theory, great idea. 👍

But generally I run quickly away from anything that I haven’t had days weeks months time to prepare, both in terms of materials (code, presentation, etc) and psychologically (😱).
[yes, I truly detest making phone calls]

Excellent idea.

Timing: I think you are probably going to be looking at a Saturday around 22:00 UTC to hit early morning (breakfast Sunday) in Aus/NZ, and early evening (tea time) New York

I’m with Rick on this one.

@ All,
thank you very much for all your feedback guys! Really appreciate it :)

@ Rick and Clive

I totally understand your point. I wish to say that:

a) I wish to build meetings with very friendly atmosphere, not something that has to be perceived as uber-professional at all costs. Aka no pressure, I am a bit like you guys, if someone gives me an opportunity to avoid presenting, I’ll take it! ;)

b) You have all the time you need/want to prepare your material, and I really wish to have you both in this (but again, do not want to put pressure on anyone, it has to be enjoyable for everyone)

The goal, as mentioned above, is to preserve and share as much coding knowledge as possible, so the whole community can benefit from it as well as having a good time together sharing what we all like. It is probably better than preparing videos for YouTube which takes time and effort and doesn’t have the fun that sharing stuff with likeminded people has.

Saturday from around 8.30 UK time works for me – aka “when the kids are in bed”.

Depending on when the first one is I may even have some stuff to talk about :)

The idea is to start a monthly zoom meeting where we all can learn, share and discuss coding techniques, debugging techniques, sharing pieces of code describing them and the problems and solutions around them, as well as having a dedicated section to learn how to code on RISC OS (for multiple programming languages).

That sounds like a good idea!

Timing: I think you are probably going to be looking at a Saturday around 22:00 UTC

That could be painful for those in mainland Europe, though…

I think I’m more with Chris (early weekend evening), but in the end it’s probably going to come down to what works best for those who express interest in attending. There’s going to need to be compromises made, so it may be best to start by looking at where people are.

Usually I don’t like online meetings, but for learning more about RISC OS programming, everything works :)
I would be interested in beginner section, to learn more about BASIC and C in RISC OS. I know a little programming, but lately I coded only in Windows/Linux, using php and python… I’d really like to know more about RISC OS system and programming.

That could be painful for those in mainland Europe, though…

Possibly, but that was a first thought targeting a time in Aus/NZ at which the first sparrows had already passed wind.
It might be best to rotate timings such that the “nice” times of day were used for the different zones on different meetings

Sounds interesting. I’ve a lot of experience developing a complex system in BASIC, so I’ve probably fallen foul of most of the pitfalls there.

@ Chris Johns

Depending on when the first one is I may even have some stuff to talk about :)

I am sure you have plenty ;) – some people would love a mini course on coding multi-task apps in Python on RO BTW, just sayin… :D

@ Steve Fryatt

Thanks, and hopefully you could also help with introducing coding in C? That would complement your excellent guide! :)

@ Alan

I’ve a lot of experience developing a complex system in BASIC, so I’ve probably fallen foul of most of the pitfalls there.

Everyone with experience is invited to share :)

@ Dan Ignat

I would be interested in beginner section, to learn more about BASIC and C in RISC OS

Thanks, multiple people voted for C and BASIC, as well as Python and Lua, so I guess we could organise mini-courses in multiple meetings (so people also have the time to practice and absorbe concepts between meetings).

I would also ask if someone is interested in showing how to use:

- Ada
- C++ (on both DDE and GCC)
- Charm
- GCC
- Perl
- PHP

And Tools/extensions like:

- AppBASIC
- Basalt
- DrWIMP
- Extending RiscLua in C and C++
- Using DLLs in GCC
- Using Dynamic Linking in RiscLua
- WIMPWorks

I also use php.

It is a while now since I last used my RISC OS machine seriously, being otherwise occupied. But I will try to get round to addressing the two RiscLua items mentioned above. Certainly extending RiscLua in C. To go from C to C++ is more a formal exercise, seeing that the official Lua sources are in C.

For the use of dynamic linking in RiscLua, the library file to understand is loadlib.c and how it #includes the library dlfcn in GCC.

@ Alan

great, so if you fancy that would definitely be good to have an introduction to code in PHP on RO.

@ Gavin

Thanks a lot Gavin! Really appreciate your help :)

For the use of dynamic linking in RiscLua, the library file to understand is loadlib.c and how it #includes the library dlfcn in GCC.

Yes, but people may want to have examples of use and see what they could do with it. Given that many have requested a beginner session, then they would probably want to see also all the possibilities behind some technical names.

For instance one of the potential that dlfcn and RiscLua Dynamic linking and extendability allow is to use all the DLLs libraries in the SharedLibs in a Lua script, making RiscLua fast superior to use BBC BASIC (especially on later version of Lua where it has becom also quite fast at interpreting). This also reduce the amount of code people have to write and also reduce the ammount of complexity they have to deal with when using Lua instead of BBC BASIC ;)

@ All

also there are a ton of coding and debugging tools to demo and share how to use. For instance everything debugging on RISC OS is very important too.

Also, using DDT to learn how a piece of code works! Source debugging is not just useful to find bugs, it also helps and speed up learning how a piece of code works ;)

There is so much ground that we can cover over time!

P.S. I am also thinking to reach out the Uni that was working on another RISC OS debugger to give us a demo of the latest improvements.

It is a shame for me that I am not so good at real-time communication. My brain usually goes blank when I pick up the telephone. Other people’s mobile phones always go apeshit when put into my hands, which is why I have an obscure Swedish variety that uses buttons, but which cannot load more apps (it has Whatsapp built in but I have never succeded in mastering it). But without feedback I go rattling on over the horizon – the legacy of a lifetime of teaching. My usual way of expounding things is to make web pages and put them up on my website, though I guess using this forum, or Rick’s Aldershot, are just as easy. So if anybody needs anything specific from me, they will have to prod me first; aliter multa tacebo .

My usual way of expounding things is to make web pages and put them up on my website, though I guess using this forum, or Rick’s Aldershot, are just as easy.

Snap!

My brain usually goes blank when I pick up the telephone.

I get that when people ask questions and stand there expecting a reply.
Like, don’t you want me to think about that first?

But without feedback I go rattling on over the horizon

Ditto, but I don’t have the legacy of being a teacher, so what I’m saying may or may not have any relevance to whatever I’m supposed to be saying, and/or include sidetracks to whatever seems interesting at the time.

To give an example, mom once asked me a question about her email that would have required a detailed answer, but a detailed answer was not what she was looking for (hint – don’t ask a nerd if you’re not actually interested) so somehow we ended up debating what Earth would be like if it didn’t have a 23½° tilt.

Far better for me, if something takes my interest, it’ll probably end up on my blog.

Ditto, but I don’t have the legacy of being a teacher, so what I’m saying may or may not have any relevance to whatever I’m supposed to be saying, and/or include sidetracks to whatever seems interesting at the time.

You think teachers aren’t like that? The better ones are, a fact that completely goes over the heads of most politicians. Being interesting is really far more useful in a teacher than a tendency to stick strictly to some brainless curriculum, whatever those fixated on examinations think.