software to program? whats best for a noobe

[tekno]

Was wondering what software everyone uses to program their Pics. I have MS c++ but searched and saw PicBasic. Was the easier of the 2.. Also Im new to C++

[Madclicker]

I'm just using assembler. I haven't seen any assembly code in over 20 yrs and it only took a couple hrs to get up to speed with the pic language. Only 35 or so instructions. Microcontrollers are at their best manipulationg bits, nibbles and bytes and so is the assembly language.

[scratch_6057]

I don’t think your going to have a whole lot of luck trying to program a
Microchip Pic chip using C++. Pics just don’t have the memory or large
enough registers to handle that type of programming. You can use plain
(ANSI) C to program Pic Chips but it has to be a compiler intended to
generate code which is targeted at the micro you intend to use. Lots of C
compilers for Pic chips out there. C++ is intended for processors found in PCs
and some embedded systems, which have a LOT more resources than the Pic
chips have. You CAN use C++ to develop a PC program to communicate with
a PIC based controller regardless of what language is used to program the Pic
Chip.

As far as the PicBasic goes you can get a limited DEMO from
http://www.melabs.com/pbpdemo.htm the full program runs from
100.00 – 250.00 ( $ USD ) the lower priced version being somewhat limited in
functionality.

You could go with Pic assembly for Free, from Microchip
http://www.microchip.com/stellent/id...&part=SW007002

Then you need a Programmer Board to get the code into the chip, this range from 100.00 up.

Best of luck

[davidmb]

Hi, i've been using Proton+ Basic compiler from www.crownhill.co.uk, have been using this language on and off for several years now, I think they have a free version. On the larger PIC's floating point is supported and the code produced is quite tight. I managed to build a 6805 debugger/ emulator with rs232 support and a pc command interface with just one PIC18F452.

There are some GPL'd compilers on the net if you want to go free.

[Megahertz]

Microchip provides their student version C compiler for free for the PIC18 family of processors. You should probably also uses MPLAB (FREE) for your development and debugging. You could use MPLAB and the C Compiler, assembly language, or both for code development.

I have used a pic programmer called Epic from microEngineering Labs in the past. This devices is under $50 last time I looked. Their are other under $100 programmer solutions out their. I would also look at microchips PICKit develpoment system

[RTP_Burnsville]

I have been using assembly or C to program small micros (PIC's and many others) for years and would suggest the same. Follow the advice above on the free tools from Microchip as a very good starting point.

[Megahertz]

there, there , there

I should be more aware of my grammer.

[tekno]

?????

Originally Posted by Megahertz there, there , there I should be more aware of my grammer.

[pminmo]

Languages are a catch22. If your doing real low level hardware functions at high speed and very tight timing, assember, no other way. Lots of memory, C or the complied basics.