Homebrew .NET Micro framework (C#/VB.NET)

[filfat]

While this isn't a planned thing nor is it in development.
However if there's enough interested I could always drown @xerpi in asm questions to get .NET Micro Framework to run on the 3DS

 

[FAST6191]

I dare say most 3ds homebrew will probably be assembly, C and C++ for the time being, indeed most people are not doing 3ds homebrew owing to a lack of info and https://github.com/smealum is about as good as things get as far as source code and libs to look at. However the 3ds having a handful of "big framework" style programming languages would make me curious. Likewise I am not sure how well it would handle the overhead but back on the DS people were using Lua to spectacular effect so that is not so bad.

 

[filfat]

Yeah, that's the plan behind "3DSharpTools" as I will be calling this quote on quote framework, to provide yet another language for developers which will help the platform grow.

 

[jocopoco]

forever C & C++, anyway a C# is good idea.

 

[filfat]

Yes, if 95% uses C++ and 5% uses C# that's still 5% more developers
I just need to get to a PC to start banging my head against the wall... aka develop

 

[misterb98]

If you can get this working, that will be amazing. Im already considering trying to learn C to mess around with the 3ds, but if c# works....

 

[filfat]

Alright, I'm starting on the first step now, the driver. Wish me luck, and if I'm inactive for more then 2 months I have killed myself in the process

 

[jocopoco]

good luck

 

[TheCruel]

Hmm interesting, I wasn't aware of the .NET Micro Framework or that .NET could compile to native ARM. It all seems unnecessarily high-level to me, but if you're a C# fan, go for it.

 

[filfat]

Okay, status update.
I have now started looking into the .NET Micro Porting kit(or PK for short) and it seems like I will have to create a special "CAD" file with the PCB layout for the compiler to understand the board correctly, also, Nintendo's 1048 SoC is not helping XD
Oh yeah, I'm also making progress on compiling, only 43 errors and 124 warnings on a template project
Oh well I will be back when I got something new.

Worth to read(as a reminder for me):
http://3dbrew.org/wiki/Hardware
http://infocenter.arm.com/help/index.jsp?topic=/com.arm.doc.ddi0201d/index.html
Etc...

BTW, anyone out there who is interested in helping? I will be publishing the codeplex project soon, but of course without any "working" code, I'm not that fast

 

[filfat]

Just published https://3dsharptools.codeplex.com/ its nothing yet really, actually its mostly just code taken from Netduino2, but if you are a developer who don't mind helping why don't check in

 

[dubbz82]

This is awesome. Personally I find some of the low level stuff in C/asm to be a bit of a headache...if you can in fact get this up and running I'll personally be pretty happy

 

[filfat]

Okay, I have looked into the code a bit and well, I need a few C++/C Developers to get the "Firmware"(Or more like the think that runs the .NET Micro Firmware...) running on the 3DS, then everything from there will be *easy*, we just need that initial push forward. Any one?

 

[filfat]

Still nothing, however thinking about it, it might be possible to *remap* C# to C++.
Which means that we basically develop in C# but compile in C++ if that makes sense...

 

[McHaggis]

Still nothing, however thinking about it, it might be possible to *remap* C# to C++.
Which means that we basically develop in C# but compile in C++ if that makes sense...

Not much, I'm afraid. The differences in grammar would cause a C++ compiler to choke and mapping/replacing code prior to compilation is likely to cause more problems. What you need to look at is porting either Mono or .Net MF to the 3DS hardware. Microsoft released a porting kit for .NET MF, that's probably the best place to start.

If you want my advice, though, it's to write 3DS software using C/C++. It can be difficult at first, but the more you practice, the closer you get to having knowledge of another programming language under your belt.

 

[filfat]

Yes, I have looked into the porting kit, however my C++ knowledge is way to bare to be able to make any use of it, I blame C# for that(I have forgotten the most of C++ since C#).
Hmm, I wonder how hard it would be to get Mono to run on 3DS hardware...... *Windows 95 Loading Bar*
In short we got everything to port either .NET MF or Mono,
We got

• ARMv11 & ARMv9 Support.
• We can basically access all framebuffers.
• We can access about everything if I'm not mistaken.

So I just need anyone to get Mono or .NET running on the 3DS and then I would gladly spend the next month or two writing C# API's that developers can use.

EDIT:
Just saw that you recommended learning C++/C to me... you mean like re-learn it?

 

[Foxi4]

What are the advantages of using C# when you readily have access to C and C++?

 

[Arras]

What are the advantages of using C# when you readily have access to C and C++?

Eh, it's mostly preference, I guess. (although you can just use C code inside C#)

 

[dubbz82]

There's a number of things the .net languages take care of for you....LINQ is nice but above and beyond that there's stuff like garbage collection that automatically disposes of objects after they're done being used...(at least for most object types)

 

[ndstuff]

What are the advantages of using C# when you readily have access to C and C++?

There are none and on such a slow SoC you don't want to use anything but C. Although managed languages are nice for learning purposes I guess.