Jason Hsu wrote:
> I'm trying to program a PIC16F72 microcontroller in C.  But I keep
> reaching dead-ends.  The trouble with trying out different solutions
> is that it takes time to keep up with all of them as well as to
> implement them properly.
>   
Why are you specifically after the 16F72...   As far as I can tell, the 
16f886 is pin compatible, and has the following advantages:

The '886 is cheaper,  2.46/ea vs 2.66 at mouser, qty 1.
The '886 has more memory - 8k vs 2k Flash, 368 vs 128bytes ram, and the 
'886 has 256 bytes of eprom as well.
The '886 has an 8mhz internal oscillator - the 'F72 doesn't.   That 
means that for many apps, you don't need an external XTAL.
The '886 has 11 channels of 10 bit adc - the '72 only has five 8 bit 
channels.
The '886 has self-writeable program memory - as far as I can tell the 
'72 does not.

And on and on and on....    And if you are just trying to use a part you 
already have, why not get microchip to sample you a few '886-es and use 
those instead?

Personally I pretty much only use the 16f886 and 16f887's in the 16F 
line unless I really need something that they can't handle.   And the 
'886-es can handle everything the '72 can - unless I'm missing some 
peripheral, but I don't think I am.   Plus, the support for the '886 and 
'887 is pretty good with any compiler since they now seem to be the 
hobbyist PIC's of choice.  

-forrest
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