For anybody out there looking for a free open source BASIC compiler for PICs, then I highly recommend the Great Cow Basic Compiler. To make things even better, this compiler has been improved about 5000% in the last two years. A small group of individuals have contributed to making it better and I was one of the contributors to the team. There is now a new "Hot Release" available. It's called this because it's not a completely stable released but about as close as you can get without tons more testing.
I've talked about this compiler before and even created a website dedicated to it. When I created my GreatCowBasic.com website, there wasn't much documentation on the compiler. There wasn't an install facility. Setting a programmer up took a lot of steps. There were several different IDEs for it but none of them endorsed by the team.
Many bugs existed and the documentation was poor. Plus there were many requests for new commands.
So I attempted to make it easier to use with the CHIPINO module as the hardware. Now the compiler has really grown from where it was. It now supports both PIC and AVR micros. I prefer PIC but now people using a CHIPINO can share code with an Arduino user. The SYNWRITE IDE has been improved and become the standard. The help files have been greatly improved. Tons of sample code are now included. Lots of new features and commands are part of Great Cow Basic.
Many bugs existed and the documentation was poor. Plus there were many requests for new commands.
So I attempted to make it easier to use with the CHIPINO module as the hardware. Now the compiler has really grown from where it was. It now supports both PIC and AVR micros. I prefer PIC but now people using a CHIPINO can share code with an Arduino user. The SYNWRITE IDE has been improved and become the standard. The help files have been greatly improved. Tons of sample code are now included. Lots of new features and commands are part of Great Cow Basic.
Despite all these improvements, the simplicity of the compiler has been maintained. You can get access to any of the libraries and modify them if you really want/need to. What I like best is it still produces pure assembly code and I can load that into MPLAB or MPLAB X and debug with professional tools.
It really is a great compiler now and the price of FREE cannot be beat. So if you are just getting started with PICs, I highly recommend you look into this compiler. And if you like what you see, get involved, post to the forum, help find any missed bugs. It's truly a community project but far from a limited effort. It could easily sell for $100 or more based on what it can do but it remains free and completely open source for hobbyist or commercial use.
It really is a great compiler now and the price of FREE cannot be beat. So if you are just getting started with PICs, I highly recommend you look into this compiler. And if you like what you see, get involved, post to the forum, help find any missed bugs. It's truly a community project but far from a limited effort. It could easily sell for $100 or more based on what it can do but it remains free and completely open source for hobbyist or commercial use.
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