MightyOhm points out this tutorial covering some basic setup for using the Eclipse programming software with AVR chips. If you’re not familiar, Eclipse is a cross-platform open-source development environment that uses plugins to expand compatibility with different coding languages. The AVR plugin can be found here and the software can even be configured to make use of the Arduino library.
I was actually just discussing Eclipse + AVR/Arduino with my brother just last week – but have yet to give it a go myself. So I’m wondering – any code-makers out there using the combo? If so, please give your take in the comments.
22 thoughts on “Programming AVRs with Eclipse”
Comments are closed.
ADVERTISEMENT
Support Make:
Join Make: Community Today
Join Make: Community Today
“code-makers?” are you serious?
This “maker” moniker has gone too far. people have been creating things since the dawn of time, it’s nothing new.
yup, as in filmmaker, shoemaker, etc
substitute per your preference
Couldn’t agree more. As a professional programmer for nearly 30 years these sort of terms really annoy me. Call me a coder if you like but I do not ‘make’ programs I write them. It’s like calling an author a book-maker.
“I’m off to make a book.” – T S Eliot
I see your point – and agree “coder” or simply “author” are the conventional/accepted terms. duly noted!
I agree. ‘Maker’ sounds very camp.
Yeah, I’ve had thoughts of setting up Eclipse, and will probably do that in the next few weeks. In the meantime, I’ve been setting up a simple Makefile for handling one of my projects (unfortunately, the Arduino GUI only shows the first compiler error when there are problems, but that’s not always the most helpful way to do it). I’ve had to watch the processes that get called by the Arduino GUI in order to figure out some of the commands to use, since there are special flags which help make the resulting program as small as possible.
After catching a couple of quick takes on the subject I’m thinking of giving Xcode a go – as I’m already familiar with it from some iphone dabbling. If I can get some of xcodes bells and whistles to play nice with AVR it would be rather sweet.
seems Recotana has a relevant template project –
http://recotana.com/recotanablog/?page_id=222
I’ve been using Eclipse professionally at work for 5 years and have just started (in the last 4 months) to learn about and program AVRs. I love Eclipse as an IDE.
I had some difficulty at first getting the right settings for my particular programmer (which I’d bought from eBay) but I’ve got it working now & it’s really quick and easy to program, build and upload to chip.
<shameless self promotion>I’ve even started to blog about it and mention Eclipse here: http://fangletronics.blogspot.com/2009/04/starting-with-avr-microcontroller.html </shameless self promotion>.
How do you develop software without a “make”
or “build” phase?
I’ve been using Eclipse and CDT for AVR development for a few years now. The CDT plugin has improved considerably over the time I’ve been using it. Even though Eclipse is cross platform, and programmer software (e.g. avrdude) can be found for most operating systems, simulation is a problem. On OSX or Linux, the best options is simulavr – you can hook it Eclipse in via GDB for code level debugging but the simulator is not great and only supports some older devices.
The alternative debugging technique is by connecting to the device in-circuit via JTAG or DebugWire. This works but requires a JTAG device and interface or an AVR that supports DebugWire and a programmer from Atmel.
For reasonable simulation, the official Atmel AVR development tool (AVR Studio) is still the best bet. It’s such a shame that it’s only available for Windows, and is so slow. I’ve heard that some versions of it run OK under Wine. It’s quite disappointing that Atmel haven’t ported their code so that the simulator is available for other platforms. They don’t seem to have realised the quality of the chips they produce is only one part of how the public perceives the company. The quality of the tools they provide is just as important.
I’ve been programming my sanguino board in eclipse ever since I’ve managed to get it running.
The eclipse IDE is more professional and suitable for big projects then the simplified arduino software.
Features like auto-complete and project files management are essential from a programmer point of view.
If you want to get into eclipse, one great starting point is this tutorial from the playground section of the arduino site:
http://www.arduino.cc/playground/Code/Eclipse