>From what little I understand so far, I2C and SPI are standards for programming microcontrollers IN their target circuits. For obvious reasons, avoiding the need to swap the microcontroller back and forth between the target circuit and a programmer like the PICSTART PLUS is essential for surface mount microcontrollers. Is there a list of all of these in-circuit programming/emulating methods used for surface mount microcontrollers? How do you decide which standard to use? What type of connector/cable do you normally use to connect the computer to the embedded circuit? How do you recommend getting started? (So far, all of my experience has been with through hole microcontrollers programmed with the PICSTART PLUS.) -- Jason Hsu http://www.jasonhsu.com/swrwatt.html http://www.jasonhsu.com/swrwatt-c.txt http://www.jasonhsu.com/swrwatt-asm.txt -- http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist