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which MCU to pick

Hi Folk

After a quick scan to look for a MCU for a particular task, I have two specific MCUs in mind, they are:

Atmel ATMega32L and Motorola MC68HC908AP32.

Between the two, is there anyone out there who has experience in those? Which one is better in terms of debugging, and development environment and support? Also, speedwise, which is more code efficient? Any compiler to recommend?

Of course, I am developing in high level C environment.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Calvin Chan

calvin snipped-for-privacy@post1.com

Reply to
Calvin Chan
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Well for the ATMega at least gcc is available, which I have used quite succesfully on the AVR series, including the ATMega32. There are quite a lot of community support for the AVR using the gcc tools. As for the 68HC908, I cannot comment as I have not used this family before.

Regards Anton Erasmus

Reply to
Anton Erasmus

You *can* program the '08 in C, there are no major warts in the architecture that make it compiler *un*friendly, but the lack of general-purpose registers means that compilers tend to use pseudo-registers on the zero page and subroutines to manipulate them.

Cosmic do a pretty good '08 compiler, given the core's limitations.

The AVR is much more C-friendly, being essentially a "narrow" version of standard RISC processors.

pete

--
pete@fenelon.com "there's no room for enigmas in built-up areas"
Reply to
Pete Fenelon

At no cost, you can try out the permanent Special version of Metrowerks CodeWarrior for the entire HC(S)08 series. In addition, you can evaluate the full version for 30 days. There are some evaluation boards available at low cost ($50 to $300, depending upon the chip - I think).

You can either download the entire software (over 700 MB installed) or you can request a free CD, or both. If you get the CD, also get the free CDs for the other Motorola chip series available, since the shipping costs would be the same if there are more than one. The URL for the HC08 is:

formatting link

CodeWarrior is fairly simple to use, especially if you follow the tutorials or the example projects included with the installation.

Gary Schnabl

Reply to
Gary Schnabl

Anton,

For the '08, Bytecraft is the only place I know of to get a C compiler.

Dave Bardon, Avocet

Reply to
Avocet Systems, Inc

Also Cosmic, Metrowerks.

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

--
"it's the network..."                          "The Journey is the reward"
speff@interlog.com             Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com
Embedded software/hardware/analog  Info for designers:  http://www.speff.com
Reply to
Spehro Pefhany

Also Imagecraft.

Reply to
Everett M. Greene

Use the AVR then. There are good C compilers for the HC08, but some of the things you need to do to make C work on that platform aren't efficient ;)

pete

--
pete@fenelon.com "there's no room for enigmas in built-up areas"
Reply to
Pete Fenelon

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