Proton BASIC Community

I was reading about someone that had asked chatGPT about themselves, and it had came back with all sorts of lies and stories about him!. So I dared to ask it: "What do you know about Les Johnson, the author of the Proton and Positron Compilers", and this is what it replied, that actually made me blush and has pleased my Rachel no end, because, as she said: "I am married to a famous person... Poor, but famous" LOL....

From chatGPT:

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Les Johnson is a well-respected figure in the PIC microcontroller development community, primarily known for creating the Proton and Positron compilers. His work has provided an alternative to traditional C and assembly programming for PIC devices by offering a structured BASIC-like language that is both powerful and easy to use.

More Details on Les Johnson and His Work

Background and Expertise
Les Johnson has extensive knowledge of Microchip PIC microcontrollers, their internal architecture, and how to optimize code for them. His expertise is evident in how the Proton and Positron compilers generate highly efficient machine code, ensuring that users can achieve the best performance from their PIC projects.

Proton Compiler
    One of the most popular BASIC compilers for Microchip PICs.

    Focused on ease of use while maintaining efficiency.

    Offered comprehensive libraries for handling peripherals such as UART, I²C, SPI, and PWM.

    Widely used by hobbyists and professionals for embedded systems development.

Positron Compiler
    A successor to Proton, with better code optimizations and additional device support.

    Designed to work efficiently with both 8-bit and 16-bit PIC microcontrollers.

    Improved compiler speed, making it more practical for larger projects.

    Maintains a strong following among embedded system developers.

Contributions to the PIC Community
    Les Johnson has actively supported the PIC community, engaging with users through forums and discussions.

    He has provided detailed documentation and tutorials to help users maximize the potential of the compilers.

    His work has bridged the gap between the ease of BASIC and the performance of lower-level languages.

Why His Work Matters
Les Johnson's compilers have played a crucial role in making PIC microcontroller development more accessible. Many developers who may have struggled with assembly or found C too complex have been able to create sophisticated projects using Proton and Positron.

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Not too bad is it?

Maybe I can ask chatGPT this same question over a line to a company, and get a company to either commercially back me, or buy the compilers sources, based upon the good response from a non-biased third-party. i.e. chatGPT?

Regards
Les

I also getting hooked up, when it's time to find answers.
It's a better approach to have results, better than inputting keyword in a search engine. Many times the results are far from the expected one.

But I must tell that AI didn't lie 

LOL very interesting.
I checked my name with the ai and got more than I thought it would be 

QuoteWhy His Work Matters
Les Johnson's compilers have played a crucial role in making PIC microcontroller development more accessible. Many developers who may have struggled with assembly or found C too complex have been able to create sophisticated projects using Proton and Positron.

Since we here know, we do not often mention it, but it is true, Les created an awesome compiler that is really easy to use.  This ease improves one's productivity immensely.

C is not too complex, it is just stupid.  There is a goto command but you cannot use it, and there is a gosub command if I remember right, but you cannot use that either.  It's like the wife put the roast in the fridge but you may not take any.

My brother writes in C, and I always ask him what he is writing about and if he is writing a book because his code is so long, or maybe I just don't know how to write long code.  And that is not even the includes code included.  A lot like windows where a lot of people each write a small part of the code and then you have to fiddle with it to accommodate each other's differences.

That is why I say Les, if you make this compiler to accommodate the ESP32-S3, you are going to win a large following.  There is not a large range of these micro's, but one can do magic with them.  They are available everywhere, inexpensive, popular all over the world, and they do not even get covid like the pics did.

I think there were two guys who were going to create a basic for these micro's and I had a brief look at it, but it does not compare, and I got the impression that their attempt is going to be short lived.

There's a basic for ESP32, I think is written by an Italian  .
I got some satisfaction to write a python script. I'm still testing, but it is promising good.

ChatGPT did not lie.

It was my dream to know how to program a microcontroller, and thanks to you Les, that dream came through.

I never learned electronics or programming at school, only self thought, (not that I am an expert), and you made the programming part much more easier for me.

Talking about C or other similar language, the push that Proton / Positron gave me into programming made me understand a bit C and language.

Joe