Often the file is referred to as a 'hex file'. The information to program all of these is contained in the one file which generally has an extension of. In addition to the program there are other memories in the chip that are also programmed in the one operation these include configuration settings (sometimes called 'fuses'), EEPROM (another type of erasable memory) and bootload areas. This is why programming a microcontroller is frequently referred to as 'flashing' the chip.įlash memory can be erased and reprogrammed many times and the stored data is retained even when the power is removed.

Nearly all modern microcontrollers use flash memory for storing the program. There are many other microcontrollers out there (Atmel, TI, etc) and these will require different programmers and software. Note that this page only covers programming the Microchip PIC series of processors. So, in this article I intend to show how easy it is to program a PIC microcontroller with an investment of less than $20. They hope that this will encourage you to buy more of their chips. But programming these small processors can be a big hurdle for a lot of people.Īs it happens, Microchip try to make it easy for you by providing cheap programmers and free software. Most of my projects rely on a Microchip PIC microcontroller which must be programmed with the appropriate firmware to do its job. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Australia (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0)

Microchip pickit 3 software