Iffy code? Not sure what that means- ME produces very good ASM for compilation. Yes, some of their functions could be optimized (and if you want to, you can just write your own in basic or as inline ASM), but they have a lot of native functionality that works with a very broad PIC spectrum- all the way through dsPICs. Having used a number of compilers in the past, I can say that the ME product produces solid code in a reasonable footprint, and is very easy to learn relative to some other IDEs. And, their tools make design/debugging much easier (i.e. EasyPIC4 dev board, with native ICD).
Anyway- there are a number of solutions out there, thankfully, and they are getting beter. But dont discount ME as waste of time; far from it, I consider it the best of the current gen Basic to PIC IDEs. The better IDEs have free demos, so why not try a few- see which have the native functionality you want, and maybe narrow down to a couple of candidates so you can compare PIC support, compiled code footprint, ICDs, etc.  |