I wanna Start PICCIN, LOL Is this good.

[techninjadude]

Anyone know were to start were to learn the language,
is this programmer good I knw its cheap:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/PIC-MCU-JDM-Programmer-Microchip-IC-/250772379610?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a6332d7da#ht_4075wt_905

[jrfhoutx]

many people use that programmer and it's a decent one to start with from what I understand.

as far as learning languages, it really depends on what language you want to learn. PICs can use C, BASIC, PICBASIC, and Assembly (aka ASM). from what I understand ASM is the Base language, takes the least amount of memory once compiled, but also takes more lines of code to write a program and from what I understand more time to learn (even though it has the fewest number of commands). anyone correct me if I'm wrong on any of those points...

If you want to learn ASM check out Gooligum Electronics PIC Tutorials for a very good and easy to follow tutorial from the basics on up to advanced...

[hyper999]

i learned asm, and it is what hazer and a few other coders on here use, languages like C and other high level languages are compiled into asm and then into your hex file

and the tutorials linked are great, i can personally recomend them as thats what i learnt from.

[jrfhoutx]

yeah those are the tuts I'm trying to learn from lol...

and yeah thanks for clarifying the compiler bit hyper.

[techninjadude]

Will C++ work, I need to learn it for the Future.

Mark me if I am wrong, You write the code then convert it to hex code, then insert the Pic in the programmer and program it and use it? How does the whole thing Work Thankd

[hyper999]

oh yeah kinda forgot to mention what i originally posted for,

if you are trying to learn a language you will definitely find it much easier if you use a programmer from microchip themselves, such as the PICKit2 (what i have)  it may cost you a little more but its definitely worth it.

"WHY!?" you may ask, well its simple if you are using a programmer from microchip you can get your code from an .asm file, onto your PIC in only 2 clicks. this may not sound that great but when you write a code and it doesn't work and you keep editing the code, reprogramming, editing the code, and reprogramming it makes life a hell of a lot easier and makes the learning way more exciting as you spend less time moving the PIC around, loading hex files and switching between programs.   

[techninjadude]

Is the Pickit2 a adapter.?

[jrfhoutx]

C++, as far as I know is not supported by any of the PIC compilers, at least not any of the free ones that I know of, and I think that the one compiler that does support it is like $300 or something ridiculous...

Yes, that's basically how it works, you write the code in what ever language and then compile it, and if it's in BASIC or C or a high level language then it converts into ASM, and then it is converted to Hex, and then you program it onto the chip.

The PICKit2 isn't an adapter it's a programmer. I actually have one and it's very nice. it supports ICSP (InCircuitSerialProgramming) and programming on the go and the basic kit that I boutght even came with a dev board for testing and learning with. It's a little more expensive than the generic programmers available, but imo it was worth a little extra money (i think the whole kit was $40) especially if you're trying to learn and are following the Gooligum tutorials...

[hyper999]

C was the C++ predecessor. As it's name implies, alot of C remains in C++. Although not actually being more powerful than C, C++ allows the programmer to more easily manage and operate with Objects, using an OOP (Object Oriented Programming) concept.

C++ allows the programmer to create classes, which are somewhat similar to C structures. However, to a class can be assigned methods, functions associated to it, of various prototypes, which can access and operate within the class, somewhat like C functions often operate on a supplied handler pointer.

Although it is possible to implement anything  which C++ could implement in C, C++ aids to standarize a way in which objects are created and managed, whereas the C programmer who implements the same system has alot of liberty on how to actually implement the internals, and style among programmers will vary alot on the design choices made.

In C, some will prefer the handler-type, where a main function initializes a handler, and that handler can be supplied to other functions of the library as an object to operate on/through. Others will even want to have that handler link all the related function pointers within it which then must be called using a convention closer to C++.

To finish this discussion, C++ applications are generally slower at runtime, and are much slower to compile than C programs. The low-level infrastructure for C++ binary execution is also larger. For these reasons C is always commonly used even if C++ has alot of popularity, and will probably continue to be used in projects where size and speed are primary concerns, and portable code still required (assembly would be unsuitable then)

http://www.faqs.org/qa/qa-117.html

ive never used C for PICs but you can use a free version of HITEC from Microchip to code in C for PICs from within MPLAB. There are also tutorials on C available on the gooligum site but they don't really teach you about the language more about using the software. Even if your end goal is to learn C/C++ learning asm can help you understand what the C code you are writing is actually doing.

As for your other question the PICKit2 is an ICSP (In Circuit Serial Programmer) programmer/adapter, however that doesn't mean you can only program PICs that are in a circuit, if you buy the PICKit2 Starter kit it comes with a neat little dev board with a socket on it that you can put different PICs in to program, this is also the same dev board used in the tutorials.

here is the PICKit2 may not be the cheapest place but this is where i got mine http://uk.farnell.com/jsp/displayProduct.jsp?sku=9847162&CMP=e-2072-00001000

 

[techninjadude]

Yeah, my dad learnt C language, back 20 years ago, LOL, I thought Pic2kit was a adapter, from the google images, Kl, thanks Guys for the posts, you really are helping.