What IDE and compiler for PIC16F chips would you recommend to a newbie?

Sounds like you're exploring a lot of different platforms, which is great! Most beginners will only use an "arduino" and look no further, so congrads on expanding your horizons.

With that being said, what's your reason for wanting to use a PIC over the other platforms you've already tinkered with?

If you're just doing some basic designs, I'd recommend the HI-TECH C Lite compiler which is free. The main limitation is it won't compile your code as efficiently, but that's not a concern for you at the moment.

For an IDE, you can just use MPLAB and use the HI-TECH C as the compiler.

Hope this helps!

Hi joe

I just downloaded mplabsx the other evening with tbe free compiler which covers nearly all but I see the free c compiler doesnt include code optimization which if deciding to write extensive code could inhibit no of program words etc and also speed

As far as c compilers are concerend

For pic mcu anyway the boost c compiler is about the most economical answer, Maplins or boostc website

The easiest compiler to use so far has proved to be the proton pic basic compiler for beginners that is, though I note that they still havent included a sony out, rc5 out function for remote infra red protocols

The new amicus 18 compiler which is free for download by the way can also be used for X10 protocol as well Could be interesting for the Gent, although you can use I2C for very much the same scenario

Add on wise, crown or proton basic offer some very nice modules for example tibbo, plus others, if you are looking to migrate to tcp ip communication

Zigbee look interesting as well for modem over rf comms but its as the gent says, Alot of this is down to capital which can be limiting as well

For cat flaps and other projects mentioned The gent would ideally want to be investigating rfid of which there are many articles featured in Elektor electronics magazine past issues

It might pay to write into them and request back issues

Other than this yes Arduino is impressive Its also the most difficult to write code for

Programmer wise these days you can use ISP anyway with correct bootloader code Domething like the pickit3 or as the gentleman has already mentioned but Im not 100%sure but i seem to recall you cannot code protect if you use isp perhaps someone might just correct or advise on this

Mark Harrington

Hello, I'm Jon, based in mid-Wales, interested in making products for people with visual impairments.

Hope this post is acceptable and fits in with the "first post" criteria!

This is going to be a bit long as I wanted to cover all the obvious questions before they arise, give a rationale to some of my thinking, and prove I've done my groundwork! If time is short, skip down to the tl;dr section to get to the meat.

I had a great training course recently at BCA in Birmingham with Arduino-evangelist Garry Bulmer who was running an excellent one-day course.

I was so enthused I bought an Arduino Uno kit on the spot and was chuffed when, two evenings later with nothing more than the Uno, 1 switch, 1 resistor, 1 speaker and 3 bits of wire, I had the Uno saying "ready" and then "button up" or "button down" depending on the state.

Having never done MCU fiddling before, and my programming knowledge limited to PHP, I was quite pleased. Next project is to use a cheap Freeduino to see if I can make a light activated chicken-run door opener for under £20.


[i]Things I want to do to start with to get going before the “proper” stuff...[/i]


* Make a kitchen countdown timer that rings a little handbell for a few seconds.
* Make a chicken door opener. Both for under £10 each.


_Eventually I want to...._

Build a data logger which will intercept and log the NIBE heat pump status and running time data from the external F2015 unit to the SMO 05 controller which runs on a CAT5 cable (once I’ve found out the data protocol!).

* Interface with the IR interface “eye” of my electricity meter and log hourly readings of the actual energy usage (as opposed to the highly inaccurate but cheap clamp-the-wire monitors).

_Looks like I have some choices here:_

**Arduino/Freeduino:** Incredibly fast start - I had it speaking the words “ready”, then “button up” or “button down” (depending on state) using the PCM library, loudspeaker and the Uno in under 4 hours of opening the box and 30 lines of code. But for each and every concurrent project, you need an Arduino.

**The Picaxe **- uses PicBasic and special pre-bootloaded PIC chips. The system is incredibly cheap and fast to get learning, allows the programmed chip to be taken out and used standalone in a breadboard, but at some point I’m going to need to expand beyond PICBasic.

Even I could cope with these first two options. Mainly because each has one high-level simplified language to learn, and one simple all-in-on IDE/compiler/programmer.

**Standalone PIC**: Then there’s the bog-standard £2 PIC chip and super-cheap K150 programmer allowing the programmed chip to be taken out and used standalone in a breadboard.

So when a K150, cable, CD with hex flashing software and a couple of PIC16F690 chips arrived yesterday morning, I was starting with a blank sheet. I can write php and understand the basics of object oriented languages, and did a little C at college, enough to get me started quicker on the Arduino than if I’d done none. But I also understand that Arduino’s ‘Wiring’ is an extremely simplified superset of C, so I’m going to have to get more down and dirty for programming the K150 of course. Maybe assembler one day, but for opening a chicken run door when it gets light, I’m fairly sure C will suffice to start!

The problem I have is.... so many options!

I hope I have proved to have done my homework with this 12 sheet spreadsheet with over 200 listings and links to different types of projects, reference and help sites etc. which can be found at (sorry, can't post links yet!). According to Chrome I looked at 118 related sites on the day I got the K150, and over 330 in the last 4 days. So I’ve definitely done some groundwork!

Yes, I know I should buy the PicKit3 and that somehow having bought the K150 makes me the spawn of
satan according to the replies other K150 owners have got on forums. One day I’m sure I’ll buy it, but right now I’m just getting going as a hobby. I’ve bought an official Arduino so I’ve salved my soul that way!

tl;dr - enough waffle, what’s the question?!

As I understand it, as long as I can compile hex, I can program a PIC chip with the K150 or pretty much any compatible programmer.

Unless I’m mistaken, I have the following choices:

**MPLAB X and PIKlab** are both free IDEs compatible with most Microchips PIC chips.

**Hi-Tech C Compiler, Sourceboost, Codeblocks and SDCC** are all Microchips compatible compilers, some free like SDCC, some free with limited functionality, some only free for one specific chip.

Then there’s **PicBasic Pro,** £99 for the full suite or £30 for the student edition of the compiler alone.
Right now, £99 is a fairly high amount for “having a play” - anything to recommend Picbasic over C?

I’ve also been watching some of the official and unofficial training videos for some of the above.

At this point in time, my intention is not world domination or the next RaspberryPI, it’s to be able to blink an LED, maybe take keypad input, maybe even make a Charlieplexed LEDcube for Christmas.

I’m getting on in my years and am of limited brain and time; the obvious thing would be to have the time to try all of the above and see which suited me. Not really practical.

I need to pick one, learn it, and stick with it. Yes, Google has been my friend, but a lot of the reviews of these IDEs and compilers refer to quit old versions. I’ve even found links to sites at Demon Internet and Geocities - 1994-1996 seems to be the peak bubble of activity for discussion on burning your own PIC code. And a lot changes in 8 years.

***So my question would be:***
**If YOU were starting out now, what IDE and compiler would you choose, and why?**

Thanks, and sorry this was such a long post!t!

You can get a free C compiler from Microchip: http://www.microchip.com/pagehandler/en_us/devtools/mplabxc/

It should suffice for the scale of projects you have mentioned.

It is hard to beat their IDE and toolsets. Enjoy your new hobby!

There is another option mikroc for PIC which i think is very easy to use!

There is also MikroBasic and MikroPascal.

There are free versions that are fully functional but limited to 2K bytes of program code -- and that is quite generous.

And there is a Mikro compiler for all of the following microcontrollers:

for PIC
for dsPIC/PIC24
for PIC32
for AVR
for 8051
for ARM

These compilers come with extensive libraries that make it easy to use the microcontroller's internal features as well as external devices such as LCD displays, UART, USB, SPI, I²C, Graphics, TFT displays, etc.