.. index:: quickstart

> :ref:`What's New ?<new-projects>` <

.. _quickstart:

Quickstart
==========
    If you need help with embedded Forth I can be found on IRC at #forth-hardware-projects on irc.hackint.org. I'm in Australia, and usually available (Nick:tp) from 0900 to 2000 EST Australian Eastern Time. If I'm not about try #mecrisp on irc.hackint.org or leave a post with your question at https://sourceforge.net/projects/mecrisp/

FORTH LOVE? IF HONK THEN
------------------------
This site assumes you are familiar with Forth and know how to use it.

If you're a Forth beginner may I recommend the classic book, "Starting Forth" by Leo Brodie and "Thinking Forth", by Leo Brody ?

Another great book is Stephen Pelc's excellent MPE Forth, which is tailored for MPE Forth but has a lot of great Forth tips.

These three books are free, please see my :ref:`books link here<books>`.

Mecrisp-Stellaris Forth :ref:`YouTube Videos<youtube>` you may find interesting.

.. _ms:

What is Mecrisp-Stellaris ?
---------------------------
    - First released in June 2013 under the GPL, **Mecrisp-Stellaris** Forth by *Matthias Koch* is Free Software**. See: https://sourceforge.net/projects/mecrisp/files/ to download a version to suit your needs.
    - Mecrisp-Stellaris Forth runs on M0, M3, M4 and M7 ARM Cortex M chips. This is a big family of microcontrollers with a common processor architecture and very different peripheral capabilities.
    - The Mecrisp-Stellaris Distribution tarball comes with ready to run binaries for all supported chips, you don't need to compile anything.
    - Despite the name, not only Stellaris chips are supported.
    - Mecrisp-Stellaris Forth fits into 19 KB of flash and runs with at least 1 kb of ram. Compare this to C which requires 20KB just to provide embedded printf!
    - Mecrisp-Stellaris Forth is fully interactive in real time on your MCU, see register contents, change GPIO states etc.
    - If you wish Mecrisp-Stellaris Forth ran on your favourite chip, just get in contact with Matthias, and maybe there will be another port soon.
    
What is Forth ?
---------------
    If you are familiar with Forth already, then bypass this note and go straight to "Quick Start Here" below.

:ref:`A long Forth Intro<forth-intro>`

.. note::
 - Forth was invented by :ref:`Charles Moore<charles-moore>` in 1968 on an IBM 1130.
 - Forth is a program that once flashed into your MCU allows you to **immediately** write and test programs, read Registers, toggle GPIO pins, read the A-D and much, much more. No compiler is needed as it is built into the program, which is flashed onto the MCU. All you need is a serial terminal to talk to the MCU in Forth.
 - Mecrisp-Stellaris Forth can run on a single $0.60 STM32F051 MCU with **zero** external components, but you may need a filter capacitor depending on your wiring layout.

This is a STM32F051-QFN MCU I hand soldered onto 0.1" pitch fibreglass matrix board and flashed with Mecrisp-Stellaris. It has only one filter cap and works perfectly. Those large shiny wires are 0.5m wirewrap wire, exactly the width of the QFN pads.

.. image:: pics/stm32051qfn-forth.jpg 

Quick Start Here
----------------
    This describes the basic steps to quickly install flash Mecrisp-Stellaris using your choice of :ref:`methods<flashing-methods>`.

Where to go now ?
-----------------

Have a look in the :ref:`Dictionary<dictionary>` for all the commands you can use ?

How about running some :ref:`'blinky' programs<blinkies>` on a F0 Discovery Board ?

.. _f0-disco:

**STM32F051 Discovery Board, about $10**

.. image:: stm32-disco.jpg

.. _next-steps?:
    
Where to go next ?
------------------
   It's traditional to build a LED 'blinky' as your first embedded program, and we have lots here, check out the :ref:`Blinky Bazar<blinkies>`

   How about some :ref:`working projects<projects>` ?

   You may be wondering, 'if a chip has a thousand register and register bitfields, how will I *ever* write all those Memory Mapped words?' Fortunately you don't have to if you use :ref:`svd2forth<svd2forth>`. So why not check it out ?

   Into *Object Oriented Programming* ? we have some exiting new developments :ref:`here<vocs-moder-demo>`

Any other tips ?
----------------
    Sure, have a browse around this site (if you haven't already):-

    * Read the :ref:`Forth Intro<forth-intro>`
    * Maybe read some suggestions for :ref:`Forth problem solving<thinking-forth>`
    * Look thru the :ref:`online book suggestions<books>` ?
    * There is now a **free Ebook** (epub) of this site, download it :download:`here<epub/MecrispStellarisUnofficial.epub>`

I've found some bugs, horrible spelling errors, or have some good tips, corrections etc, who do I contact ?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  :ref:`See the contact list<contact>`