ps3 programming:worth a console?
Author
hi,
i notice that we can do a multicore programming on ps3 using ydl. but i dont have a ps3 (yet). is it that worth to buy a console just to try the programming (im not that into gaming)? is it that different from casual programming like you do on a pc? will it considered as a 'good experience' on your cv?
thanks in advance
It's a different experience from the PC, or the traditional multicore environment. Programming experience always worth it.
But, you can't really develop your programs on your ps3 (it's too slow as an operating system), so you need a linux, to develop, and run small tests on it with the emulator, and you can do speed and performance testing on the ps3 remotely.
But, you can't really develop your programs on your ps3 (it's too slow as an operating system), so you need a linux, to develop, and run small tests on it with the emulator, and you can do speed and performance testing on the ps3 remotely.
Author
interesting, yeah i heard something about the lack of ps3 memory. how can i do that? is it possible to do the code and then run it on ps3 directly ( i mean like hooking up the ps3 to the pc, do the code via the pc, press a button and its automaticly launched on the ps3) ? :D :D
Quote:
( i mean like hooking up the ps3 to the pc, do the code via the pc, press a button and its automaticly launched on the ps3) ? :D :D
That's pretty much how it works for us with the professional development kits but you're not going to be able to get a PS3 devkit unless you're working for a games company.
Coding for the retail PS3 means going via an installed version of Linux. There was some progress about hacking the PS3 to let you access the RSX (gpu) unit which is something that Sony don't allow you to do when running Linux normally. However after a couple of minutes looking I can't find much about the status of that from Google.
Programming for the Cell (cpu) alone can still be interesting with a good example being the Blue-Steel ray-tracer.
It could be good experience but from a game developer point of view we're more interested in seeing good coding practices, involvement in projects and dedication seeing them through than we are in having people say "hey i coded this tech-demo on a PS3! i r l33t"... actually having said that, I think it'd depend on how cool the tech-demo was [grin]
Andy
Quote:interesting, yeah i heard something about the lack of ps3 memory. how can i do that? is it possible to do the code and then run it on ps3 directly ( i mean like hooking up the ps3 to the pc, do the code via the pc, press a button and its automaticly launched on the ps3) ? :D :D
Not really, since the ps3 has only 256 megs of system ram, using it as a development machine is a pain in the ass. I'm using wmvare with fedora, to develop the code, and do the testing and the debugging the code. When it works more or less, I'm running some scripts, that are transferring it to the ps3, and building and running it there, and I can see the results in the console. I don't know if there's an automated version to do this, but this involves only some basic linux scripts.
But as NineYearCycle stated, it's not meant for game development, but as a cheap way to work with the cell architecture (a blade unit costs nearly 12k $).
I use a PS3 for development at home. The PS3 is running Yellow Dog and I have it networked with a PC running Fedora 9. I do all the development on the PC using the IBM toolkit and cross compile to the PS3. It's pretty easy to set up and works fairly well.
The CellBE SDK comes with a version of ecl;ipse which will let you register your console so that you can build your code and execute it on the PS3 with a single click.
As already mentioned you don't have much memory to play with on the PS3 and you don't have access to the RSX so you won't be creating anything really ground breaking but, the CPU architecture is pretty interesting to play around with.
The CellBE SDK comes with a version of ecl;ipse which will let you register your console so that you can build your code and execute it on the PS3 with a single click.
As already mentioned you don't have much memory to play with on the PS3 and you don't have access to the RSX so you won't be creating anything really ground breaking but, the CPU architecture is pretty interesting to play around with.
Author
Quote:Original post by Buster2000
I use a PS3 for development at home. The PS3 is running Yellow Dog and I have it networked with a PC running Fedora 9. I do all the development on the PC using the IBM toolkit and cross compile to the PS3. It's pretty easy to set up and works fairly well.
The CellBE SDK comes with a version of ecl;ipse which will let you register your console so that you can build your code and execute it on the PS3 with a single click.
As already mentioned you don't have much memory to play with on the PS3 and you don't have access to the RSX so you won't be creating anything really ground breaking but, the CPU architecture is pretty interesting to play around with.
w8 im a little bit lost. so the sdk is installed on your PS3 or PC? and the eclipse? and after you do ur code on the pc, do you build it on pc and then test is on ps3 or you have to do everything except coding on your ps3?
if you have a link how to set up the (most convinient) environment would be very great :)
thanks in advance :)
The SDK is installed on both the PS3 and also on the PC. The reason I code on the PC is that I prefer to use a fully featured IDE and with the limited memory available on the PS3 eclipse cases the whole thing to die.
The PC setup uses eclipse as the ide which cross-compiles the code and creates a CELL ELF file which it then sends via TCP to the PS3 where it gets executed.
It is also possible to use Visual Studio to develop your code on the PC and then send it to the PS3 and compile remotely. Using putty or something similar.
All the info can be found here:
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/power/cell/
I also recommend this book:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Programming-Cell-Processor-Graphics-Computation/dp/0136008860/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1237213163&sr=8-1
It's a bit dry but basically tells you how to program on the CELL in a step by step recipe manner.
There also quite a lot of free university material available for the CELL from the likes of Carnegie and MIT just google for it.
If you haven't bought a PS3 yet you could have a play around and see if it's for you or not by using a VMware setup like sirpalee said.
The PC setup uses eclipse as the ide which cross-compiles the code and creates a CELL ELF file which it then sends via TCP to the PS3 where it gets executed.
It is also possible to use Visual Studio to develop your code on the PC and then send it to the PS3 and compile remotely. Using putty or something similar.
All the info can be found here:
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/power/cell/
I also recommend this book:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Programming-Cell-Processor-Graphics-Computation/dp/0136008860/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1237213163&sr=8-1
It's a bit dry but basically tells you how to program on the CELL in a step by step recipe manner.
There also quite a lot of free university material available for the CELL from the likes of Carnegie and MIT just google for it.
If you haven't bought a PS3 yet you could have a play around and see if it's for you or not by using a VMware setup like sirpalee said.
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