Programming the Device
Programming the device is the next step to getting your design into the real world. A microcontroller runs a hex file which is flashed to the device using a piece of hardware called a PICKIT. The PICKIT is a proprietary technology and can be purchased from Microchip.
It is possible to obtain 3rd party PIC programmers, however, caution should be exercised to ensure that the unit can program 1) the device you are currently working with, and 2) future devices you may plan to work with.
Owing to the wide spectrum of devices available 3rd party programmers may have a limitation and not fully support the entire product spectrum.
The option to program a PIC is as follows:
- 3rd Party Programmer NOTE: This topic won't be developed owing to the reduced scope. Please see the MikroProg section.
- PICKIT Clone
- Bootloader
- MikroProg NOTE: Booloading requires the one-time use of a programmer to load the boot-loading firmware onto the device. See the section on boot loading: Mikro C Bootloader
Programming is usually performed once for a deployed application, or multiple times during the software development cycle. Once the code has been flashed to the device, and the application is operational the only further need to programming the device would be for code updates.
