It's too complicated

I am very disappointed about this software. Its not that easy, for beginners. It’s not fun. Not intuitive. Coding is easier than this.

what is boot?
"Outputs a single pulse when the program starts"
what is pulse?

may be this is your kind of way using microcontroller but beginners world is different. I will follow changes but now i cant use it with this complexity.

Hello and thank you for the summary. I see your point.

Currently, XOD is at its very early stage. There are many things we could change to make it more friendly. Luckily opinions told here on the forum would help us make right decisions.

The boot block is indeed not very intuitive, but that’s again related to the update-on-pulse question.

Thanks a lot for making this project. I’m happy that you have released a fiirst alpha.
I have the same opinion of serhatsoyyigit. I expect to have something kiss as blynk or scratch4arduino, to use if for example with children in schools to make nice robots, but it seems that for the moment it’s not possible. I don’t know if your goal is to make it very kiss for children, but if yes, i hope you will achieve this :slight_smile:

Thanks for your work, i will also follow changes.

@pepe Hello and thank you.

Of course, all users would benefit if even a child could use XOD. Overall simplicity is good and worth to strive for. Children friendliness is a good metric.

Currently, one of the main problems as I could see it is that many things in XOD are very explicit and should be done by hand. We’ll hide some machinery behind the scenes. I believe that could make the product much much simpler. Hold on for the next release.

Hello and thank you for your reply.

I’m very happy to know that you plan to make it easier and that it will be possible for children to use it.
Are you interested by feedback that will try to give you ideas to make a litle more easier the next release or you all ready have a lot of works and ideas ? If you are interested I can try to make a small project with xod, i will ask you how to do it, and if i have some ideas to make it easier i will tell you.

@pepe Thank you for the offer. It would be quite hard to do the experiment properly right now as XOD should be significantly changed with the next release.

I would be glad to perform the test right after major changes will be introduced.

I disagree with the idea that XOD is “too complicated”.

I see a lot of things missing - like core patches hierarchy, distinction between input, logic, math, output categories.
An onscreen console would of course be handy. I’d love multiplexer and demultiplexers, and be able to build structure of arrays. And i’m impatient!

But this is alpha stage and a lot more promising than what I’ve seen around.
Engineers tend to prefer code, designers, artists and kids are at ease with visual coding environments.

Whoever has already tried and used MAX/MSP, Pure Data, VVVV, Quartz Composer, Touchdesigner or VUO will actually rejoice. I just know my 6 years old girl will be at ease with XOD UI, clean and functional. And I can’t wait to see more myself.

Awesome work guys, keep it on!

3 Likes

Hey @ddelk, thanks for sharing your opinion! A positive constructive feedback like yours keeps our motivation high :wink:

Hope we’ll satisfy your expectations with future releases.

P.S> For the sake of justice. The original post was created few versions ago when things were indeed more complicated than now.

Hello, XOD is what I’ve been looking for. It removes a great deal of the complexity of programming Arduinos.

I’m an experienced programmer that has been working with college art classes, and with professional artists. I provide technical expertise to help the artist realize their vision.

Non-programmers can only do very basic things using the Arduino IDE. And, they find even that very confusing and frustrating. They need a tool that removes concerns with syntax, like FBP or ArduBlock. But, they also need a tool that removes concerns about sequencing and parallel actions while still allowing fairly complex systems.

Programmers who aren’t familiar with C++ have a difficult time with C++ once a certain level of complexity is reached. Parallel and sequenced behavior is very difficult to get right (even for experienced C++ programmers).

A tool also has to be easy to install. For example, another FBP solution is MicroFlo, but the installation and use is currently difficult and confusing.

XOD provides uploading a program (compare with things like NodeRed that require tethering), is open-source, completely removes issues of syntax, implements parallel behavior transparently, is easy to install, and includes the entire tool chain. It removes a great deal of complexity.

If you are already a programmer, you may find it difficult to change to a FBP style. It’s very different. But, it is much easier for non-programmers to use than a text-based, C++ tool.

XOD provides a general programming tool. And programming is inherently complex. Designing in a text based program, or in FBP, or in any programming paradigm, takes real expertise.

XOD improves the situation.

2 Likes

Thanks for sharing your mind. Great to hear that XOD concept is recognizable by digital artists. How can we support them better? We’d like to.

Maybe you could provide some topics they are interested in the most? So that we can write down some guides/howtos on these topics.

Hello Forum,

it seems not to be too complicated for me to handle XOD. I’m bad in pragramming but I learnd to build hardware. “Outputs a single pulse when the program starts” is easy to understand (for me), because I am familiar with reset circuits in digital systems. The need a kick when the system boots until everything is powered up and stable. I will give XOD a try and I am a little exited if my fantasys becomes digital reality…

1 Like

Do, or do not, there is no try
I have spoken

xod is the best thing since sliced bread , if you have been experimenting with other programs and plc logic for years like me , you realise that xod is on its way to blow the other guys right off the map , the amount of really complicated project i have made with the help of xod is amaizing , all you have to do is go onto xod , and play around with all the nodes and other goodies soon you will join the dots , then it becomes real fun

1 Like

If you do not use, it you will loose it.
You have got to try and try and then you will see how easy it is to use, but take your time and stay with the learning curve. Look and be happy with the next release. Good luck XOD and thanks for all the hard work.