On Fri, Nov 18, 2016 at 12:01:07PM +0000, Peter Onion wrote:
>=20
> I'm returning to PIC programming after a break of a few years (mostly
> playing with Raspberry Pis).
>=20
> I've just installed MPLABX and so far it's been a positive experience.
>=20

I'll leave the technical question for others to address. Reinsertion is a
good time to evaluate platform choices. You've already done one with
MPLABX. But based on your question about banked memory, there are others to
consider.

I've been working on a comparative analysis of Raspberry Pi Zeros to PICS.
The Zero seems to be relatively cost effective for simple high level tasks.
For example my current task with one is converting a chest freezer with a
faulty thermostat into a wirelessly connected refridgerator. Using a 1$ USD
special buy on the Zeros the core ends up being under $10 USD. An added
DS1820 digital temp sensor and an SSD, it's cheap and simple to get a
project going.

The problems are lack of decent peripherals (multiple PWM/CCP, lack of ADC)
and high power consumption. But for simple wall connected tasks, it works
well.

On the PIC side, there have been significant improvements. The PIC24 and
PIC32MX families have real horsepower, decent high level programming
language support, excellent peripherals, and easy hobby packages with 5V
support. My favorite right now is the PIC24FV families of chips in the 20
and 28 pin dip packages. While I still program them in assembly using
Microchips 16 bit assembler, C is available with significant library
support in MPLABX.  Also much lower power consumption is possible.

But at this point, think long and hard before diving back into PIC16F chips
in assembler. I started with the 16C54 25 years ago and ended with the
16F1938 a few years ago. I wouldn't look back to that family unless there
was a significant reason to do so.

Hope this gets you thinking...

BAJ

--=20
Byron A. Jeff
Associate Professor: Department of Computer Science and Information Technol=
ogy
College of Information and Mathematical Sciences
Clayton State University
http://faculty.clayton.edu/bjeff
--=20
http://www.piclist.com/techref/piclist PIC/SX FAQ & list archive
View/change your membership options at
http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist
.