Code Review with chatGPT!

To test the abilities of the OpenAI chatGPT, I decided to have it provide me with some feedback for some C++ code I recently wrote (I'm not well experienced with C++). The results are pretty cool!

Me: 

Provide a code review for this: <pasted the code for Animator.cpp (https://gist.github.com/mcorrigan/cd95230c568503f3917a57c66ef73b55)>

chatGPT:

Overall, this looks like a well-structured and well-documented class for animating a display on an Arduino. Here are some specific suggestions for improvement:

1. In the begin() method, consider adding a null check for the display argument to ensure that it is not null before assigning it to _display. This can help avoid runtime errors.
2. In the addAnimation() method, consider adding a check to ensure that the arr argument is not null before adding it to the _sequences array. This can help avoid runtime errors.
3. In the removeAnimation() method, consider adding a check to ensure that the animation with the specified sequence number exists before attempting to remove it. This can help avoid runtime errors.
4. In the playSequence() method, consider adding a check to ensure that the specified sequence number is valid before attempting to play it. This can help avoid runtime errors.
5. In the update() method, consider adding a check to ensure that _currentAnimation is not null before attempting to draw it to the display. This can help avoid runtime errors.
6. In the update() method, consider adding a check to ensure that _seqfps[_currentSeq] is not zero before dividing by it. Division by zero is undefined and can cause runtime errors.
7. In the update() method, consider using elapsed_time % _currentFrameDuration instead of elapsed_time / _currentFrameDuration to determine the number of frames to jump. This will ensure that the animation stays in sync with the desired frame rate, even if the elapsed time is much larger than the frame duration.
8. In the update() method, consider using a signed integer type (e.g. int or long) for the _currentAnimationFrame variable to allow for negative values. This can make it easier to implement features such as reverse playback or frame skipping.
9. Consider adding a method to pause and resume the animation, as well as a method to set the frame rate and looping behavior of the current animation.
10. Consider adding support for animations with different sizes than the display. This could be implemented by adding a _currentAnimationX and _currentAnimationY member to the Animator class and using these values in the call to drawBitmap() instead of always using 0 for the x and y arguments.
11. Consider adding support for multiple layers or transparent colors in the animations. This could be implemented by using a 2D array of colors for each frame and using a separate drawPixel() call for each pixel in the animation.
12. Consider adding a method to get the current status of the animator (e.g. playing, paused, stopped) and the current frame and sequence number. This can be useful for implementing more advanced animation control.

I hope these suggestions are helpful! Let me know if you have any questions.

Me:

Why does "_stream->println(_currentFrameDuration);" affect the timing calculations?

chatGPT:

It is not clear why printing the value of _currentFrameDuration would affect the timing calculations in the update() method.

One possibility is that the act of printing to the serial port is taking a significant amount of time and causing the elapsed time between frames to be larger than expected. This could cause the animation to appear slower than expected, as more time would elapse between each frame.

To confirm this, you could try commenting out the line that prints the value of _currentFrameDuration and see if the animation behaves as expected. If the issue is indeed caused by the serial print statement, you could try optimizing the serial output (e.g. by using a smaller baud rate or buffering the output) to reduce the impact on the animation timing.

It is also possible that there is some other factor at play that is affecting the timing calculations. Without more context, it is difficult to say for certain what the root cause might be.

Me:

Is there an better way of handling pointers?

chatGPT:

There are a few ways you could potentially improve the handling of pointers in the code you provided:

1. Consider using smart pointers instead of raw pointers. Smart pointers are a type of object that behaves like a pointer but automatically manages the memory it points to. In particular, the std::unique_ptr and std::shared_ptr types in C++ provide automatic memory management and can make it easier to avoid memory leaks and other issues that can arise when using raw pointers.
2. Consider adding null checks for pointers before dereferencing them. For example, you could add a null check for _display before calling any methods on it in the begin(), update(), and stop() methods. This can help avoid runtime errors if the pointer is null.
3. Consider adding documentation to explain the purpose and ownership of each pointer member in the class. This can help other programmers understand how the pointers are intended to be used and whether they are responsible for deleting the memory they point to.
4. Consider using reference variables instead of pointers when appropriate. In some cases, using a reference variable can make the code easier to read and understand because it is clear that the object being referred to will not be deleted or changed.

I hope these suggestions are helpful! Let me know if you have any questions.