
Compiled tips 'n tricks guide for PIC microcontrollers (2009) [pdf] - segfaultbuserr
https://ww1.microchip.com/downloads/en/devicedoc/01146b.pdf
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analog31
The 8-bit PIC microcontrollers won the love of hobbyists for a number of good
reasons. In particular, the PIC16C84 and PIC16F84 chips had EEPROM/Flash
memory that eliminated the need for an ultraviolet erasure stage. They were
available in DIP packages that were easily handled. The documentation and
programming tools (just an assembler at first) were approachable. The
input/output pins were fairly robust, so the chips were hard to kill. The
power supply voltage range was forgiving, and allowed for easy operation from
batteries.

The 8-bit PIC architecture lacked some features that frustrated writing a
proper C compiler for the chips. But that wasn't a problem if you moved up to
the 16- and 32-bit processors, which also had some lovely peripherals such as
a 12-bit A to D converter.

I programmed my first PIC16C84 chip using a programming circuit that I built
myself through the parallel printer port of my MS-DOS computer, using a
program that I wrote in Turbo Pascal. I was hooked.

Those were the days. Since then I've moved on to chips and boards that can be
programmed using the Arduino tool chain.

~~~
zokier
> The 8-bit PIC microcontrollers won the love of hobbyists for a number of
> good reasons.

And I'd argue lost it with lack of open source compiler support.

> But that wasn't a problem if you moved up to the 16- and 32-bit processors

Microchip is selling XC licenses ($1500 and needs a dongle) for 16 bit PICs,
because there is still no gcc/clang available. This in a universe where
msp430, avr, and arm (and many others) all have good upstreamed gcc support.
So I say it's still a problem.

32-bit PICs are just MIPS cores so they have at least some degree of support
via that.

~~~
analog31
Indeed, for me, I moved from 8- to 16-bit PIC mainly so I could write in C,
even if I didn't always need more power. But the added cost was not an
obstacle for my uses. Eventually the ability to use GCC moved me away from the
platform altogether. And it wasn't like I had a problem with the Microsoft
tools per se, but didn't want to invest my brain cells in something that was
likely to be a dead end.

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kens
I thought an old document on the PIC microcontroller would be entirely
pointless to read, but most of these tricks are applicable to microcontrollers
in general.

~~~
leggomylibro
PICs are also very low-power and low-cost.

They still have a bit of a niche in the world of modern microcontrollers,
unlike _some_ popular 8-bit MCUs that I could name...

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amelius
Anybody succeeded in using open source tools to program PIC microcontrollers?
Is it easy to create a USB (slave) interface through this route?

~~~
Zardoz84
There is a Arduino clone using PICs. Pingüino Is called. all open source. I
made one using the older not PIC32 version and worked very fine.

