MachiKania Phyllosoma is a BASIC compiler for ARMv6-M, especially designed for the Raspberry Pi Pico.
Its main advantage is that it runs very fast, even on low-power devices.
You can download a quick-try .UF2 file here ported to PicoCalc
To use higher clock speed (at 200 MHz as an example):
SYSTEM 51,15 : REM Voltage at 1.3 V
SYSTEM 50,200000000 : REM CPU clock at 200 MHz
Hello, this is Katsumi, one of the authors of MachiKania
Thank you very much for introducing MachiKania on PicoCalc. It’s still in production and will be published as an official release (as ver 1.6.0 probably) within a few weeks. We ask for your patience until the official release for full details, but here’s a quick summary in the meantime.
MachiKania is a BASIC compiler and runs BASIC program as fast as C program (1/2 speed of C program). It’s ~7 faster than Micro Python and ~25 times faster than MMBasic. Compilation is fast and usually completes within one second. Raspberry Pi Pico, Pico 2, Pico W, and Pico 2 W are supported. Connection to the net through Wi-Fi (as client and host) is also possible by using Pico W and Pico 2 W.
MachiKania is a comprehensive architecture and contains at least following items:
Firmware (phyllosoma_kb.uf2) for Pico, Pico 2, Pico W, and Pico 2 W
Please note that all of the above links point to the production branch of the GitHub repository and are not part of the official release documentation. We hope you can hang in there just a little longer until the official version is ready!
Thank you for bringing a compiled BASIC with sane defaults (like integer by default) to reality!
I skimmed through the help file and the repo, it’s quite comprehensive. Just ordered pico2w and I’ll start testing with it.
The name, MachiKania came from a street address, Machikaneyama, which is connected to both of MachiKania authors.
Please note that you will need specific firmware for Pico 2 W. How to build the firmware is explained in PicoCalc directory in GitHub repository.
You will need to edit initialization file MACHIKAP.INI (in PicoCalc directory in GitHub and must be placed in the root of SD card) for Wi-Fi ID and password settings. Enabling “USEWIFI” in MACHIKAP.INI is also needed.
You will also need to place “LIB” directory downloaded from the release page to use WGET and HTTPD classes, which are required for easy access to internet.
I don’t know why the forum program considers my first and second posts as spams, but following is the copy of them without link to GitHub repository. I need several links to GitHub web pages, though…
Hello, this is Katsumi, one of the authors of MachiKania
Thank you very much for introducing MachiKania on PicoCalc. It’s still in production and will be published as an official release (as ver 1.6.0 probably) within a few weeks. We ask for your patience until the official release for full details, but here’s a quick summary in the meantime.
MachiKania is a BASIC compiler and runs BASIC program as fast as C program (1/2 speed of C program). It’s ~7 faster than Micro Python and ~25 times faster than MMBasic. Compilation is fast and usually completes within one second. Raspberry Pi Pico, Pico 2, Pico W, and Pico 2 W are supported. Connection to the net through Wi-Fi (as client and host) is also possible by using Pico W and Pico 2 W.
MachiKania is a comprehensive architecture and contains at least following items:
Firmware (phyllosoma_kb.uf2) for Pico, Pico 2, Pico W, and Pico 2 W
When MachiKania is launched on PicoCalc, the editor will open. You can edit your BASIC program here. To control it, please use function keys:
To load a program from file system, push F1 button
To save a program to file system, push F2 button
To run the program, push F4 button
The BASIC language syntax is explained in help-e.txt.
Please also refer the xxx-e.txt in document directory and the readme-e.txt.
Please note that all of the above links point to the production branch of the GitHub repository and are not part of the official release documentation. We hope you can hang in there just a little longer until the official version is ready!
Colour coding in the editor would make it much better (commands, comments, functions, variables)
Most demo programs need rewriting for the PicoCalc display. Some ignore ctrl+alt-del so you need to switch off to exit. Others require missing library or class files. Can we have a Picocalc library LIB folder link please ?, not obvious where it is in your github.
File manager ignores Y/N when trying to delete a file.
Sound only coming from right speaker (or much louder from the right).
General useage notes for users…
Hold down ctrl and alt then tap Del to interrupt programs (might need several attempts).
To page scroll large programs hold down ALT while using the up and down arrows.
The editor complies and runs programs but only saves the .bas file.
Just so you know, MachiKania was originally designed for other purposes, but it’s now being prepared to support PicoCalc as well.
Coloring in editor is a good idea, but it’s a difficult task. I will ask the collaborator about the editor.
I’m preparing the release of zip archive containing everything (including LIB and SAMPLES directories) needed. So far, LIB directory is available in Releases page in GitHub repository (as machikania-p-152.zip).
So far, only right speaker works. This is because MachiKania type P support monaural audio but not stereo. I will consider to use both speakers for monaural audio (but not stereo). It’s loud, so please adjust it by left knob.
I’m also preparing English explanation of how to use MachiKania on PicoCalc (I revised readme-e.txt in PicoCalc directory in GitHub repository).
Thank you for introducing the Machikania BASIC compiler.
Although Machikania is BASIC, it has an object-oriented approach, and as a compiler, programs run quickly, so I think it has great potential.
I look forward to the official release of the PicoCalc version.
P.S.
I think the reason your first post was temporarily hidden is just because of the system specifications of this bulletin board.
By completing several tutorials and gaining experience, you should be freed from various restrictions and be able to post freely. It may already be that way.
Thanks for the heads up. I’m comfortable with firmware hacking. My pico2w just arrived today
Maybe I can help with the editor. Wondering if you guys are okay with pull requests? I’ll also add build targets for sd-boot variant, so that more people can come to try Machikania more conveniently.
Thank you very much for your proposal regarding the editor modification programming. The MachiKania community is still small, and unfortunately, we are not in a position to accommodate large-scale pull requests at this time. However, we have begun discussions with the co-developer regarding improvements to the editor. We would also greatly appreciate any additional ideas you may have for feature enhancements.
P.S. I tried a modification for two speaker (but not only right), but I felt there isn’t large difference from right-only-speaker mode. So, I would like to stay in right-only mode to keep the source code simpler.
