Microchip Embedded Development Environment Overview

To develop applications for Microchip MCUs, Digital Signal Controllers (DSCs), or MPUs you will need the following:

MPLAB^® X IDE

You must install the MPLAB^® X Integrated Development Environment (IDE) on your computer.

MPLAB^® XC Compiler

If the application you are developing will be written in C language, you will need to install a C compiler. Microchip offers MPLAB XC8, MPLAB XC16, and MPLAB XC32/32++ compilers. (Several third-party C compilers are also available but not covered in this tutorial.)

MCU Target Board

The target board is a development board with an installed MCU, dsPIC^® DSC, or MPU. This board may be a prototype of your final design or a commercially available evaluation/demo board. If you are using your prototype board, be sure to bring out the device programming pins to a header to allow connectivity with a programmer/debugger. All Microchip evaluation/development boards have the programming/debug pins on a header OR the boards have the programmer/debugger circuitry on-board.

Programmer/Debugger

If the target hardware you are using does not have an on-board programming capability, you must obtain a programmer/debugger such as the MPLAB^® PICkit^™ 4 or the MPLAB^® ICD 4 In-Circuit Debugger/Programmer. These devices work with the IDE to program the application into the MCU onto a target.