A review of Mikroelectronica products - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: VEGETA
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 27, 2013, 11:02:53 pm
content: I would like Dave to look at their products as I see them very good.www.mikroe.comthey have a programmer to program all PIC MCUs, they call it Mikroprog... There's a version for AVR and others. Will this one be a suitable for everyone, rather than using PICkit3?Also, the famous MikroC PRO for PIC which is the best IDE I ever tried. Sure is better than MPlab or so... What do you think?they have more good applications like VisualTFT and GLCD applications which makes creating GUIs and touchscreen apps as easy as it would get.about Kits, they have several ones...So, Dave... here you go!

author: Bored@Work
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 28, 2013, 05:26:45 am
content: Quote from: VEGETA on February 27, 2013, 11:02:53 pmThey aren't. Their boards are for posers. "Look mom, they gave me 50 switches on that board. 50!".http://www.mikroe.com/img/development-tools/pic/easypic_pro_v7/images/highlights/easypic_pro_board.jpghttp://www.mikroe.com/img/development-tools/avr/bigavr6/gallery/bigavr6_01.jpgAnd what I saw from their C compiler? It produced horrible code. Doesn't matter if their IDE is nice.

author: Skimask
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 28, 2013, 07:57:29 am
content: Quote from: mswhin63 on February 28, 2013, 07:04:02 amExcept for the fact that he's 100% right.....

author: VEGETA
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 28, 2013, 01:01:38 pm
content: mikroC complier is the best. It doesn't matter if the IDE is nice like you said but about all the librarys and more...coding in it is really great...maybe mswhin63 wanted him to say what is the wrong thing. What is the best C compiler and IDE?and you didn't comment about their MikroProg Programmer.their boards are a bit pricy right, but they are good. I didn't like their Starter Kits too much because they force you to buy the compiler (which you have it and got the license from internet).other thing I liked is their other software like Visual TFT and GLCD, they seed nice really.

author: BravoV
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 28, 2013, 01:59:06 pm
content: Quote from: Bored@Work on February 28, 2013, 05:26:45 amQuote from: VEGETA on February 28, 2013, 01:01:38 pmWhile IDE style is very subjective and depends heavily on personal preference, but what B@W pointed out is the "code generation", I'm with him and believe many will not agree with you at this particular subject on MikroE compiler's code quality.Just search for benchmarks or comparisons between micro controller compilers at the generated code speed & size, there are tons out there in the net.

author: VEGETA
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 28, 2013, 02:45:38 pm
content: well you seem to say good stuff.generation speed and size? size is important but generation speed... do you meed the time needed by the compiler to generate code or how fast code will work?I pointed out that using MikroC makes things easier with all these librarys and ready functions... better than MPlab X as far as I tried...maybe you have something I don't understand or so... that's why I suggested that Dave makes only one video on MikroE as he did ones for microchip.no body said anything about mikroprog and visual tft ^_^and for those who say that mikroC is not a good compiler, I request that they tell me their preferred one and why they like it... so I can try it and compare...

author: Spikee
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 28, 2013, 08:55:48 pm
content: MikroElektronika products (especially software) are still in the early stages.Some simple things like selecting a few lines of code and pressing tab so they all jump a bit to the right does not work in their IDE and deletes your selected code.As for their visual stuff they need better support for multiple controllers and screen sizes. They did a deal with FTDI CHIP for the FT800 Embedded Video Engine. Visual tft will properly support the bigger screens (5 inch etc..) at full resolutionwhen this chip is released. Because it takes alot of load off the STM32 they added all kinds off meters , bar graphs sliders ....FT800 Demonstration (will be released in a few days)The MikroElektronika team listens to the customers and the forum support is superb. They are activly working to improve their products and software. The compiler has like 5 levels of code optimization and they actually work good.I have the STM32 MX pro board , visual tft and MicroC pro.

author: VEGETA
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 28, 2013, 10:43:08 pm
content: I didn't understand the 1st thing you said, that one about arranging code. But code arranging is good in mikroC to make it aline with the previous line and so...what I saw is the simplicity in coding... maybe it's just me but their librarys and ready-to-use functions are great. the help files are great really and yet very simple... They have a library for nearly everything.I have MikroC PRO for PIC, I didn't buy it but downloaded a keygen and it works...my concern now is which PIC programmer should I buy?1- PICkit3... after Dave's review I didn't like it and I don't know if it's fixed now... also it's 45$ which is a great price but I don't know how much will it cost me in my country.2- a clone or whatever... someone I know used one with about 25$ price and it works... you just hook the MCU and it will program it which means there's no need for ICSP. << that's for <40pins MCUs.3- MikroProg from MikroE... this one is the perfect choice as I see but it's pricy... 99$.^what do you suggest?

author: Bored@Work
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 28, 2013, 10:47:39 pm
content: Quote from: VEGETA on February 28, 2013, 10:43:08 pmA thief promoting the wares he stole. I guess this is a new one for the forum.

author: VEGETA
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 28, 2013, 10:56:33 pm
content: Hmmm.. many people do that really. What bothers you? right now I'm on little budget so I can't buy it yet.you hate their products and now you defend them? lol that's funny, like a tsundre.

author: baljemmett
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 28, 2013, 11:14:43 pm
content: Quote from: Bored@Work on February 28, 2013, 10:47:39 pm"I liked it so much I didn't want to pay for it!"

author: VEGETA
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 28, 2013, 11:15:58 pm
content: Quote from: baljemmett on February 28, 2013, 11:14:43 pm*"couldn't now"

author: Skimask
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 28, 2013, 11:27:23 pm
content: Quote from: VEGETA on February 28, 2013, 10:56:33 pmThat always the excuse... "I'm on a budget" "Money is tight" ... blah blah blah.Doesn't justify squat.If money is an issue, maybe a cheaper hobby is in order...<segway-over-to-the-piracy-issue>-x number of posts later</segway-over-to-the-piracy-issue>

author: VEGETA
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 28, 2013, 11:36:16 pm
content: it's not a problem to you but a problem for me... really.and I'm not doing this for a hobby. you shouldn't focus on these stuff and return to the topic right? I asked about a review and Dave didn't show up yet.Then I asked about a suggestion of PIC programmer. Can you help me with it?

author: BravoV
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 01, 2013, 01:25:06 am
content: Quote from: VEGETA on February 28, 2013, 10:43:08 pmQuote from: VEGETA on February 28, 2013, 11:36:16 pmQuote from: VEGETA on February 28, 2013, 11:36:16 pmNo, the proudly self declared thief is enough to make most people here (me included) feel it is useless to continue this discussion, believe Dave will react the same as well.I'm out of here.

author: Jon Chandler
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 01, 2013, 01:52:47 am
content: +1 for BrovoV's comments.

author: VEGETA
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 01, 2013, 02:22:50 am
content: a discussion is useless? you took things way too childish... I have a kinda big project now that's why found the keyget... before I was happy with the free version and actually made some stuff with it... but when I faced a big project I couldn't do it with regular version.I intent to have the full version later on, actually I think it's better to buy it with a kit and that's how they sell kits... so all this buzz about momentarily using the keygen?I hoped that the normal free one be enough but it didn't... what kit do you recommend to buy which have that compiler?any discussion is useful and if you don't like it, that doesn't mean it's useless. you just have to understand people or just "get out of here" as you said.don't speak instead of Dave, I believe he can speak about himself... I am sure he will see the topic and give his opinion about it somehow... that's why I put it here cuz I trust his opinions.thanks everyone for help... I got nice help in this forum so far.

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 01, 2013, 02:35:30 am
content: Quote from: VEGETA on March 01, 2013, 02:22:50 amYes.It's no different to saying you stole a multimeter from your local dealer, now lets talk about it.Don't be surprised that people won't want to help you after that.Dave.

author: VEGETA
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 01, 2013, 02:48:23 am
content: Quote from: EEVblog on March 01, 2013, 02:35:30 amOK, so what's the solution now? I should never post in the forum?I didn't open this discussion really, instead I just asked for others opinion on certain products.anyway, what do you think I should do now in order to participate in the forum?

author: c4757p
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 01, 2013, 02:51:53 am
content: No, just don't advertise theft. Even better, don'tdoit.

author: VEGETA
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 01, 2013, 03:03:34 am
content: Quote from: c4757p on March 01, 2013, 02:51:53 ambelieve me I didn't advertise anything.I always tend to use free software and I actually used the free normal version of mikroC for some project... when I came to this one I was shocked that it needed the full version cuz I thought it will just work as usual (there's limitations).for PCB, I wanna use Eagle because someone told me that the free version is enough for the project, if it's not there's KiCAD, it seems easy enough.Sorry for any inconvenience I caused.

author: hans
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 06, 2013, 10:15:36 pm
content: A good example tends to be followed...Anyway; I downloaded the MikroC free edition before (last year, very recent) to see what's what, and I wasn't seeing much benefit from MPLAB X:- I can't see why a Pickit2 isn't supported. It should do the same thing as PK3 on most devices. You either need a PK3 or their very expensive hardware, which is as big as a paving stone for working with a 10x10mm chip.You can use a PK2 with the standalone util to flash some chips, but that doesn't do debugging..- I hate the closed-ness of libraries. I always like to step through and see what's going on. You can't always rely that a library is written in a way it won't interfere with other stuff you may possibly be doing. And you won't figure out without seeing whats going on. So: either reading the source, or reverse engineering the generated assembly code to check out what's going on. Reverse engineering assembler stuff (on an embedded system) is a bitch.- You still need to set-up DMA stuff yourself, which is ironic in that it makes a lot of things easier, except some of the very 'hard' specialized stuff which can make it harder (because you can't see/edit their library code, huuray!).- The code editor looked really simple. That may be a good thing for some, but I like my auto completion, re factoring, coding style rules, renaming, indentation, doc generation/helpers tools on my IDE. Therefor, I usually create a dummy-C project in VS2010 Express or EasyEclipse C/C++ and work in there because of the features.I can't tell anything about the compiler quality itself. Although,for example, it won't be hard to beat the XC8 lite edition, which is so terrible it's obviously bloating your program just to make the PRO version seem worth it (woohoo 40% code size reduction), although that's just a casual compiler.I also find it miraculous you can tell all about how great this IDE is and it's capacities and then ask what programmer/debugger to buy so you can actually use the IDE properly.I think you can safely say Mikroe is Apple-sort-of from the electronics market. Their site/design looks really clean, simple and straight forward with lots of stuff to get going easily for anyone. But their price tag is huge, it's all closed off, and in the end, you can accomplish the same result with other tools (albeit with a bit more effort, which may be more satisfying when it works).And you will always have fanboys and haters. I may be more of a hater, or pessimistic.

author: dexters_lab
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 27, 2013, 10:48:42 pm
content: I have a couple of easypic5s with a programmer and (licensed!) MikrobasicWhen i bought them about 4 years ago iirc the whole package was great for me as i was just starting out but i needed easy.Had good results with the ide and finished off a couple of projects using their mikrobasic, which i went onto design the pcb's for. How good the complied code is behind my writings i couldn't really say. But i only ever had good results with their products.Would still like to see a good objective review though!

author: Vasi
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: June 01, 2014, 03:52:02 pm
content: Quote from: dexters_lab on March 27, 2013, 10:48:42 pmThe ones who could do it, can't because you need to evaluate more complex applications for a fair result. Maybe on small apps, Mikroe generate bigger code but can recover on much bigger apps. His bigger advantage is the RAD (Rapid Application Development) concept. It has a lot of libraries ready to be used, and the Libstock site come with additional libraries not included in the original product. And, you can chose your microcontroller depending on the code size of your final firmware, no problem here.Anyway,I did some testsa while ago, kind of useless, as I had no access to the full version of the mikroe compiler and wasn't able to test more important libraries (the ones which it really matters, I would say).

author: mariush
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 01, 2014, 04:29:28 pm
content: I'm using Pickit 3 and it works fine.Up to a few months ago, it used to have problems when the computer was putting the usb port to sleep, the IDE would no longer recognize it as plugged in and stuff like that.After a break of a couple of months, last week I compiled some stuff and with the latest firmware (it's updated automatically into pickit 3 from the net before trying to flash a microcontroller) it's working perfectly fine, left it plugged in for hours and had absolutely no problems.45-50$ is really not that much of an investment, considering you'll reuse it for lots of microcontrollers. For about 50-60$ you can get pickit3 with that pic18f dev board and that's also good value for money.Xc8 free is good enough for my needs, even though I have the patch to hack it to pro version I didn't see the need to use it for my projects.If you find not optimizing the binary well enough you can just get a mcu with more flash space or you could easily find the patch/hack to convert it to pro (or you can easily find hi-tech c with pro patch/keygen everywhere on the net, xc8 is basically hi-tech c with some minor improvements)

author: bwat
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 08, 2014, 10:07:08 am
content: Quote from: c4757p on March 01, 2013, 02:51:53 amQuote from: EEVblog on March 01, 2013, 02:35:30 amHardware types have such a better attitude to all this. The software numpties do my head in. Ok, it's technically not theft but programmers (actually any creative types) need to get paid for their work and copyright is all we have.Now, onto MikroElektronika. I wrote the following in another post:Quote from: meThe product support peeps weren't very good as all they could do was send me badly spelled apologies.

author: vvangelovski
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: July 25, 2014, 08:21:20 pm
content: Mikroelektronika's first product was a Pascal compiler/IDE for MCU's... released in 2004. And believe it or not that's how they started gaining popularity? Pascal... really. Who the heck cares about pascal for any practical purposes in the 21st century, unless you have to maintain some legacy code or something? Well they are a Serbian company and pascal used to be a popular language in CS curriculums in eastern Europe, but any programmer worth their salt stopped using it 20 years ago unless they had to maintain legacy code. Why the hell would someone shell out $200+ to develop a new embedded system in Pascal or Basic?A few weeks ago I wanted to play around with PIC again (after 10 years), so I went into a local components store and asked them if they had any ready PIC development board similar to the arduino that with an integrated programmer (I had to wait 2 more weeks for my PicKit3 to arrive). Since they only had ME boards I bought a Start USB for pic. I spent $20 for the damn thing, but I had some spare time and wanted to play around right away. Well it turned out it's practically useless for me. The only way to load code on the thing is with Mikroelectronika's proprietary tool, which works only on Windows. Really? I stopped using Windows for any serious work 10 years ago. Well ok, I can probably use the PicKit3 on it, but it's essentially wasted money because I can build the same circuit without USB on a breadboard for $5 or less.I like their bigger boards because of all the periferials they offer, but they are just too expensive and they don't even have an ICSP header.IMO, they might have been OK 7-10 years ago, but they seem to have been stuck at the same place for 10 years. I might consider their PIC development boards if they included an ICSP header or their C compiler if they port it to Linux or Mac, otherwise they just seem like a dinosaur today.

author: Bud
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 24, 2014, 03:48:32 am
content: Mikroe is an OK company. Sure they tend to proprietorize their development platforms but guess what - all other companies do the same.