> I would be using their eight bit [AVR] devices and programming in assembl=
er.  Andwould want development aids equivalent to MPLAB8 and ICD2.
>=20
> Could anyone give me any direct advice on getting started or direct me to=
 the better of the overwhelming  number of web resources?

The =93Current=94 official low-end tool is the Atmel ICE.  Debugging and pr=
ogramming, and it also works with ARM devices.  (randomly goes on sale, or =
is offered discounted as part of a =93training event.=94)  (Previous genera=
tion was =93Jtag-ICE-3=94 (with USB); you mentioned the JTAG ICE with seria=
l only - that=92s several generations old at this point!)

AVRs mostly use a LVSP-like programming protocol that is SPI based and easy=
 to implement, so there are a bunch of very cheap programmers available (=
=93USBASP=94)
On the other hand, Atmel has kept their debugging protocols and SW much mor=
e proprietary than PICs, so there aren=92t many (any?) Cloned debuggers (as=
 there are with PicKit2/3)

The best web resource is probably the =93AVRFreaks=94 Forum: http://avrfrea=
ks.net/

Be aware that there are two assemblers, with slightly differing syntax.   T=
here is the official Atmel assembler, which is a single-file no-linker abso=
lute assembler, and there is the Gnu =93binutils=94 assembler that goes wit=
h the gcc compiler (avr-as)

Most of the low-end Arduinos are AVR based, so buying an =93Arduino Uno Clo=
ne=94 gives you a cheap development board with Bootloader and USB connectio=
n.  OTOH, Some of the "Xplained Mini=94 boards are nearly as cheap and incl=
ude support for the debugger. http://www.microchipdirect.com/product/search=
/all/xplainedmini?mns=3Dxplained%20mini

"Atmel Studio=94 is the vendor-supported IDE.   It=92s essentially a shell =
on top of Microsoft Visual Studio, and runs on Windows only.  The AVR world=
 is anxiously awaiting Microchip action on adding AVR to MPLAB, with or wit=
hout discontinuing Atmel Studio.

There are a couple of gotchas in AVR assembler:
1) the =93general purpose registers=94 really aren=92t.  R0-R15 don=92t ope=
rate with immediate operands, making them 2nd-class citizens.
2) Similarly, there is a limited range of =93IO registers=94 that are acces=
sible with special instructions like SBI (Set Bit in IO register.)  on a la=
rger AVR, hardly ANY of IO is reachable that way, and you have to do multi-=
step read, modify, write, sequences.
3) PC, SP, and Flags are considered IO registers making them somewhat more =
complicated to access than on a PIC or ARM.

BillW


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