PIC16F Vs. PIC18F

[pouchito]

What are the main differences between the 16Family and the 18Family

 

[picasm]

Microchip application note 716 (AN716) describes the main differences.
(It talks about 16C74 and 18C442 chips but it still applies to newer chips).

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

The 16F is 14 bit, and the 18F is 16 bit, this allows the 18F series to have a larger instruction set - the 18F has an instruction set that's optimised for use with C, and MicroChip even provide a free C compiler for it. Essentially it's a higher end version of the 16F, and runs faster as well, with an internal PLL that can run four times faster than the external crystal.

 

[pouchito]

Thanks a lot

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

If you're starting PIC programming, the 16F are a good place to start - it's a fairly easy progression to the 18F.

 

[fvm]

so wahts the benefit of larger instruction set

 

[ronsimpson]

so wahts the benefit of larger instruction set

It is like using a larger vocabulary to write a book.

 

[Mr RB]

With less words needed in the book.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

so wahts the benefit of larger instruction set

It gives you a number of extra instructions which simplify some tasks.

Bearing in mind the original post is five years old, there's also now the enhanced 16F series (16F1827 etc.), which provide a smaller number of extra instructions than the 18F, but offer great enhancements over the standard 16F, and (best yet) they are a fraction of the cost of either.

 

[Ian Rogers]

The big change for me is the larger program memory... With 16 bit architecture comes 64k memory ( some have 96k, even 128k ) Albeit two byte instructions... It's better for larger applications..