On Sun, Jul 1, 2018 at 10:37 AM, Xiaofan Chen <xiaof...@gmail.com> wrote: > On Sun, Jul 1, 2018 at 6:41 AM, Michelle Ran <michelleran...@gmail.com> wrote: >> Sorry, I'm only a high school student so I'm struggling to understand what >> you mean. What's the significance of the hex file - is that what contains >> the code? What IDE/language should I use to program the board? Also, what do >> you mean by host program and build environment? >> Again, sorry if my questions are basic. This is my first time working with >> hardware. > > I see, no problem. > > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microcontroller > > hex file -- binary code for the microcontroller > IDE -- MPLAB X > Compiler -- MPLAB XC8 > Host -- PC (eg: Windows PC or Mac or Linux) > Build environment: eg: Windows, MPLAB X + XC8; etc
That is the build environment on the MCU side. MPLAB X supports Mac as well. On the build environment for Mac, Homebrew is highly recommended. https://brew.sh/ You can use Homebrew to install the necessary development tools to use pyusb -- eg, libusb, Python; then you can use pip to install pyusb. > Programmer -- tools to download the binary to the microcontroller chip PICkit 3 should be good enough. > Host program for the programmer -- MPLAB X will do > > If you just start with HW, USB may not be a good place to start and the > USB demo board I mentioned before may not be a good start for you. > > Rather you may want to start with some simpler hobbist oriented > board like Arduino where they hide the details of Microcontrollers. > Or Raspberry Pi boards where you can program using Python. > > https://www.arduino.cc/ > https://www.raspberrypi.org/ On the other hand, there is nothing wrong to start with a generic MCU too, Microchip 8-bit PIC is a good start point, along with Microchip/Atmel AVR, TI MSP430, etc. I think the 32bit ARM is less beginner friendly but they are popular too. USB is pretty complicated. You can learn the basic here. http://www.usbmadesimple.co.uk/ You may want to start with serial communication and not USB first, there are many USB to Serial converters out there, like those using chips from FTDI. -- Xiaofan ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Check out the vibrant tech community on one of the world's most engaging tech sites, Slashdot.org! http://sdm.link/slashdot _______________________________________________ pyusb-users mailing list pyusb-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/pyusb-users
