First Year Programming Help (C++)

[Zuelu562]

Heisenburger, welcome to CD, and the FRC programming community. If you want to reply to a specific thing on a post, hit quote, and if there's any superfluous information, you can remove it from the quote. Additional quotes are initiated by the "QUOTE" tag. If you don't want to type it in, you can initiate a quote by clicking the little chat bubble between the picture and the # symbol on the bar above the advanced reply board.

As for programming in FRC, as others have pointed out, no specific IDE is required to write the code, but it is required to use Wind River Workbench, a program included in your kit along with Labview, to build and download code to your robot. If you want to get used to a similar interface, Eclipse is nearly the same as far as aesthetics and use to Wind River.

Again, as others have pointed out, WPILib, a programming library built by WPI, is the primary basis for your coding structure; it has (almost) all of the objects and functions you could ever need for your robot. Toss in a couple of your own variables, some flow control if necessary, and you've got a working robot.

Some personal advice: If you can, make a testbed platform to test your code and understanding of WPILib and its use BEFORE you get it onto the actual robot. All you need for the testbed system is the control system and a few motors to act as analogues for your real setup. Make sure you coordinate with your team to make sure you know how the robot is being built and what functions your robot will need to perform. Don't be afraid to ask questions of those building the robot for your programming needs - they hate to hear "we don't even have a half-decent program yet" when they're done building as much as you do. Finally, DON'T BE A PERFECTIONIST (except Autonomous, you need to have perfection, or close enough)! Don't get caught up in making your program of the robot absolutely perfect; make sure everything works how you expect it to. If there are any inconsistencies in performance after it works how it should, the drivers need to handle that on the fly.

Again, welcome to Chief and Good Luck this season!