Onbot Java vs. Android Studio vs. Blocks for Programming (A Detailed Guide)

FTC allows three methods of programming: OnBot Java, Blocks, and Android Studio. We tried all three this year and would like to share our experiences with them as well as pros and cons.

OnBot Java - A bare-bones programming tool great for teams with little or no experience programming
Pros:

• No software install necessary, all browser-based
• Easy to set up
• Lightning fast code sending (less than 5 seconds for our code) which is SUPER helpful for testing!
• Basic and straightforward, hallow learning curve
• Wireless

Cons:

• Computer has to be connected to robot controller phone through wifi, while programming, you can't search anything up or use the Internet. This can be annoying if you only have one computer.
• Extremely basic, limited advanced functionality
• No version control (if you mess up the code, you can't go back and get the previous version)
• Not very smart: doesn't tell you what exactly went wrong and doesn't offer fixes

Blocks -  A simple tool for teams who have younger members/have very little programming experience or a lack of a software mentor​
Pros:

• Super easy to learn, drag and drop
• Like Onbot Java, it's wireless and very quick to send to robot
• Good for beginners, very beginner friendly

Cons:

• Extremely limited, barely any high level functionality
• limited resources compared to Java programming
• Can be more difficult to understand by advanced programmers who are trying to help you with the code
• Basically same issues as Onbot Java: No Version Control, etc...

Android Studio -  the bread and butter of programming, only recommended for teams with advanced programmers or mentors/coaches familiar with Android Studio
Pros:

• Very very powerful, can do pretty much anything allowed in FTC
• Many user helping features
• Version Control
• Aesthetic IDE
• Can be connected to Wifi and program simultaneously

Cons:

• ​​Many complex errors! Android Studio is professional level and it has many moving parts that often break.
• Difficult to set up and use for beginners
• Constant need for updating 
• Has to be downloaded on either Mac or Windows, which may be bad if the computer is a Chromebook, or is a very weak computer.

As for us, we started out with Blocks for our first Tele-Op. Then, we started using OnBot Java which was sufficient for the early stages such as basic tele-op and autonomous. Once we were familiar with Java programming, we started to transition to Android Studio which has made coding much easier. However, we do not recommend it to most rookie teams unless they have a mentor with experience/advanced programmers, because it is very complicated in the beginning. At our first meet, Android Studio refused to run our program edits (it is useful to be able to change code during competition) because of a few updates it needed, and we did not have wifi to do so and hotspots are not allowed . However, we were able to copy and paste our code into OnBot Java and send it to the robot from there.

I hope this was an informative guide. Below is a link to tutorials for each programming tool made by FIRST and others. 

Leave a comment if you have any questions or anything!

​- Andrew G

More Info from FIRST