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Pic basic

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bloody-orc

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Hi there. I'm starting to learn pic programming in basic. What do you guys think is the best pbasic program? it has to be free or have a trial or demo version.

I was thinking about PROTON DEVELOPMENT SUITE. It seems to be pretty goot thingy. it has a great syntax and big help file.

what do you guy use or think i could use.
 
Personally I like the PicBasic Pro compiler.

I've also used MBasic which has some added stepper motor commands. These are nice but take up lots of memory when compiled.
 
Hello
I use Mbasic and really like in circuit debugger. The down side to Mbasic
is the SLOW upgrades to the 18Fxxx chips. Mbasic can also be used
with assembly or basic, depending on what you need to accomplish.
Although I haven't used it yet, PicBasic has a very good reputation for fast upgrades. It also been stated to be a very good complier.
 
I also use Melabs PicBasic PRO. Mature, stable. Sure some will say that it doesn't provide all rings and bells of PROTON, but it's the only BASIC compiler i use and trust for ALL my commercial ended product.

I tried and buyed almost every BASIC compiler on the market and i still return to the Melabs one.

Forum: www.picbasic.co.uk/forum
 
İ have a lot of version of PROTOn but all of them isnt work free and i hate this situation. İ am using pic simulator ID but it hasnt include floating point and good library i think. İ am a student and i cant buy a software so can u give free Melabs i download
 
I have MBASIC and PicBASIC Standard. MBASIC make large programs. I am going to trying mikrobasic next. As it does PIC and Atmel.

But the next one I buy will be Proton..
 
Thank you, mramos1. İ am trying Microbasic nowadays so its good but i want to use Proton. İf i cracked it, i can give the program and crack. Good works
 
I bought Microbasic and MELabs (and both are for sale for a fair offer; I want PROTON).

Anyway, as I use these programs to write software and sometimes make money, I see no reason to steal it and not pay them their money (for the software they wrote).

Grant it I think $250 for a good compiler for a persons hobby is a joke as even Microsoft (who's price is a joke) is lower.

I think Borland made the point many years ago. $99.95 for a program, they will sell a ton of them..
 
I would love to try the melabs BASIC as it seems pretty popular and well supported, but there's just no way I can afford any development tools that aren't "free". That's why I'm studying the C18 "student edition".

Regards, Mike
 
I am with you MikeK8LH.

I just spent an hour looking at mbasic again, it is good don't get me wrong but runs slow (must be a java program) and the .hex code is large. The help file is a giant PDF to add to slow. For someone starting it is probably great if they use the 4-8K chips. But I want to use my old chips up first.

I looked at Mikrobasic (I really thought that would be the answer) the user interface is so bad..

Then I looked at CH-BASIC (I saw a link in a thread today for it and liked the ASM on the side) user interface bad again but the demo is cool.. You might want to look at that one (bronze version). You load the sample and it shows the ASM on the side and makes an .asm with your comments to debug it in MPLAB.

I'm still set on Proton as number 1 and MELabs PRO number 2. And can not afford them (or justify them).

SO. I will start the project again tomorrow night in MPLAB/assembler, it will take a day or two longer. BUT it works 100% including my mistakes (I can hear a snicker sound through my PC speakers. It think that was Nigel)
 
MBASIC is iffy...

I bought MicroBASIC Pro in October of 2003 for $230 with the promise of a major upgrade to be issued in the next 2 to 3 months. Ain't happened yet, and it's been well over two years. They have provided no support for any of the 'must have' 16F PICs, like the 16F88, -818, -819, and absolutely NO support for the 18F series, or dsPICs or any other of the latest and greatest. The processor menu lists several 18F PICs after you select "16 bit FLASH". But when you go to set configuration settings there is nothing there. And after you close configuration settings, the menu pops back to some 16F chip selected earlier. They may have intended to do something in 2003, but it never happened. So many people whined about this they stopped monitoring their own web site and left it up to a handfull of dedicated members to answer questions from beginners and each other. Last year they announce they were rewriting the code over to 32 bits for Win2K and XP. They then released a CD with a member's book about MB Pro. This didn't work with Win9x anything. They later claimed it was supposed to work with the 16F876 and -877, but the -877 wasn't supported. And several of the original PICs it supported have been obsoleted, and others have been upgraded to 'A' versions, which aren't supported, and don't work properly with the compiler. And it's still $230!

But despite all that, I recommend you get one of these if you can find it on Ebay for considerably less. For all its lagging behind, it still supports a number of usable PICs, and does it well. The math package, peripherals support and builtin debugger are almost worth the money in themselves. And they have come on the forum recently to announce a major push to finish the upgrade. Numerous present users (myself included) have cheerfully offered to pay for the upgrade if it convinces them to finish and put in 18F support.

As for CH BASIC, I like it a lot. I got version 3 in late 2003. I appreciate having all the available features appear in selection boxes in the left menus. But they too have done no real work in version 4 to justify the money.

Well, those are the two I bought for PICs so far. I just downloaded both demo versions of Oshonsoft's PIC BASICs, which look VERY promising! We'll see...

Later!
kenjj
 
Sounds like case of resting on their laurels to me,i dont think any program for mass marketing is worth the $250 or so MElabs want for this,obviously outdated,and largely unsupported diinosaur.Oshonsoft have hit the target,with a capable program at avery good price.The whole point of 'professional' software is that it can cope with any scenario thrown at it;which picbasic pro obviously CAN'T!
 
HackinBlack said:
...,i dont think any program for mass marketing is worth the $250 or so MElabs want for this,obviously outdated,and largely unsupported diinosaur.
ROFL, why are you saying it's outdated? Just because it doesn't provide all built-in rings and bells of the other? (maths, trigs, GLCD..) If so... i don't want to hear your comment about assembler ;)

MELABS tech support is really great when you need it. Charles, Jeff and all other there are just so sweet. Did you at least visit the forum? www.picbasic.co.uk/forum ? There's a tons of ressources, nice people and clever ones (i don't include myself in) over there.

Melabs compiler is a stable and mature product, it's working as it's suppose to. When you buy a product you're suppose to know what you buy... It's clearly stated black on white what it do. Period.

Now it always depend on you. Do you want to learn how things work or be limited by the built-in function of your compiler?

The whole point of 'professional' software is that it can cope with any scenario thrown at it;which picbasic pro obviously CAN'T!

So obviously you really don't want to waste your time on the 'how things work' process. Sad... very sad.
 
I went to the website. Found an IDESimulator? Not compiler to try out.. I like the format.. Did not see a price or demo. Was that the wrong link?
 
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