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I've got a beast of a piece of hardware. This little widget here:
Lilygo T5 4.7" E-Paper Device[^]
It's an all in one system, with the display panel deeply embedded into how the whole thing operates, and that's where it gets weird design-wise.
When I say deeply embedded I mean something like 14 pins on the main system are tied up to driving the display. Meanwhile, the display itself has a framebuffer which must be stored in the SoC's extended PSRAM in order to function. And finally, to drive the display requires hardware specific to the ESP32 SoC it's attached to. (Though I guess someone particularly ambitious could get it to work on a STM32 but there wouldn't be enough RAM)
There's no way I'm driving this e-paper panel outside this unit itself.
The whole thing is deeply integrated, to where it doesn't really make sense to segregate the display code from the hardware it runs on. For example, all my pin assignments can be hard coded, because they are hardwired on this device. I can assume 4MB of RAM (16 really, but 4 available under the Arduino framework), and I can make specific calls into the SoC's RTOS.
This shouldn't be causing me design issues, but every instinct in me is crying out to compartmentalize this code - like not assume pin assignments or the presence of an ESP32 WROVER, or anything like that. That's silly. I have no reason to do it. It doesn't make sense to do it. So why such a strong pull in that direction?
So I'm sitting here, tapping at VS Code in fits and starts, and I don't really know where to begin because I have to work against my instincts as a developer.
Maybe I *should* compartmentalize it just so I can operate within my normal parameters, but that would greatly complicate a lot of the code.
One problem with coding all my life is my instincts are too strong at this point.
To err is human. Fortune favors the monsters.
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honey the codewitch wrote: Maybe I should compartmentalize it just so I can operate within my normal parameters, but that would greatly complicate a lot of the code.
But if it uncomplicates creating the code, it is worth it.
Or go all the way, and start using gotos everywhere! Once you are tired of that, you will find a happy middle ground!
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I bounced it off someone on the esp32 subreddit and i feel a bit better about it now. I think just needed to hear another developer tell me overengineering this thing was going to be a fool's errand.
To err is human. Fortune favors the monsters.
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Your job sounds to me like a heck of a lot of fun. Even if you do use C++. 
If you think 'goto' is evil, try writing an Assembly program without JMP.
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This is my own project, but my job does entail work much like this, and I actually use work product from my own projects in my commercial endeavors, so there's a lot of cross over. There's a fair chance something I learn building this will benefit me professionally later on.
To err is human. Fortune favors the monsters.
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I was robbed at a gas station this morning.
After I stopped trembling and regained my composure I called the police.
When they arrived the police person asked me if I knew who robbed me.
I said yes, pump number 3.
The less you need, the more you have.
Even a blind squirrel gets a nut...occasionally.
JaxCoder.com
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You're don't live in a place that calls it petrol, so do you own a Tesla or something?
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No, Americans call it gas or gasoline... so I don't know where he's from...
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Yeah, he is either being funny or he is not from America but has an American flag for his profile pic.
I refuse to believe that anyone from America would not know what a "gas station" is. My SIL's youngest child, 7 years old, knows what a gas station is.
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Chevy Volt. I see a gas pump once a year for 9 gallons of gas.
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Taco Bell. 
"the debugger doesn't tell me anything because this code compiles just fine" - random QA comment
"Facebook is where you tell lies to your friends. Twitter is where you tell the truth to strangers." - chriselst
"I don't drink any more... then again, I don't drink any less." - Mike Mullikins uncle
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Or Krystal.
If you think 'goto' is evil, try writing an Assembly program without JMP.
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None near me, but looking at their site, I imagine the end result is the same. 
"the debugger doesn't tell me anything because this code compiles just fine" - random QA comment
"Facebook is where you tell lies to your friends. Twitter is where you tell the truth to strangers." - chriselst
"I don't drink any more... then again, I don't drink any less." - Mike Mullikins uncle
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And they say men can not experience the pains of child labor...
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According to the Big Bang Theory TV series, shouldn't that be Del Taco?
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I have to admit, I might be the only one here who has not seen an episode.
"the debugger doesn't tell me anything because this code compiles just fine" - random QA comment
"Facebook is where you tell lies to your friends. Twitter is where you tell the truth to strangers." - chriselst
"I don't drink any more... then again, I don't drink any less." - Mike Mullikins uncle
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What about all of those Vending Machines?
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That trembling and loss of composure may indicate that you have caught the Carowner virus!
If you can't laugh at yourself - ask me and I will do it for you.
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I believe you are right.
The less you need, the more you have.
Even a blind squirrel gets a nut...occasionally.
JaxCoder.com
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Given all of the hype in the US about "Russian cyber-attacks", are any of you guys doing anything about it?
I have been thinking about encrypting my hard drives for this reason, and ransom attacks as well.
I wonder, however if the encryption-decryption process slows down disk I/O perceptibly? Have any of you guys done it, and what is your experience?
ed
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I'm not doing anything other than the usual:
- Periodic backups of all systems
- All truly important data stored in multiple formats & locations (NAS, DVD/CD, home, work office, etc.)
Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.
-- 6079 Smith W.
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I am not sweating this in the slightest.
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Nope. Not doing anything different.
The Russians didn't just start doing sketchy sh*t on the web a month ago. They've been doing this crap for quite a long time now.
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