New to STM32 and ARM. Looking for toolchain recommendations.

[este00]

Posted on May 06, 2015 at 19:09

My list of options I've worked out are IAR, Keil, Rowley, (maybe DS5 or others?)

* ONE MAN TEAM... this is important. I have to personally be able to keep every aspect straight. I'm planning on hiring another guy in my department, but it'll likely be a student with zero low level knowledge * There are other options, but large userbase and support are very important factors. * The costs are absolutely third or fourth considered aspects. I've brought in a LOT in product revenue, so I can justify anything I feel like the value is there for. * CMSIS or Not, I don't know. I'm a very low level guy, but porting is a nice idea if it works. * STM32Cube seems to be an interface that still works with other toolchains (I think), do a lot of you guys use it? * My huge annoyance with PIC was that I was stuck with marginal toolchains, I want to move to ARM to have options, but I'd really like to make the ''right'' choices the first go around, I realize things like IAR vs Keil are preference, but if anyone can dumb it down I'd appreciate that. * Pretty well sold on the STM32 series, huge variety and I can get a 20-pin single can, a mid-range dual can, or high end. Very pleased there. Is there anything STM32 aren't great at compared to other vendors? * I have yet to work with an RTOS, but it's an eventuality as project size is growing. I can't do this all on my own without stepping up a level. So, that's also playing into my toolchain choices. Any advice or recommendations would be welcome. Thanks! #arm #keil #compiler #toolchain #llvm

[stm32forum]

Posted on May 06, 2015 at 20:12

My favorite

http://www.emblocks.org/web/

[qwer.asdf]

Posted on May 07, 2015 at 10:24

http://www.openstm32.org/System+Workbench+for+STM32

It's free, based on Eclipse and GCC toolchain, supported by

http://www.st.com/web/en/catalog/tools/PF259242

. Just remember to update it after installation, and keep checking for new versions, they are actively developing it.

[Danish1]

Posted on May 07, 2015 at 11:03

I like Rowley Crossworks. In my experience it has been fast and stable, and the developers have been responsive to my problems and suggestions.

[AvaTar]

Posted on May 07, 2015 at 11:19

My huge annoyance with PIC was that I was stuck with marginal toolchains, ...

I know what you talking about, and still can feel the pain ...Pretty well sold on the STM32 series, huge variety and I can get a 20-pin single can, a mid-range dual can, or high end. Very pleased there. Is there anything STM32 aren't great at compared to other vendors? As an example, NXP had support for Quad-SPI Flash for years, and asymmetric dual core MCUs (M4/M0), if that matters. To come to the point, I would not confine myself to a STM32-specific toolchain, the quality is not necessarily better than those of ''generic'' toolchains. And I would think twice before getting involved with CubeMX - it is a can of bugs yet (just look around in this forum), and adds several layers of abstraction which are unnecessary for most applications, obscure and bloat the code, and eat away performance. I would suggest to consider such ''side issues'' like customer support, licencing policy, update policy, debug pod support, and support for version control software.

[Liviu Ionescu]

Posted on May 07, 2015 at 13:14

Strictly speaking toolchains:

https://launchpad.net/gcc-arm-embedded

As for free IDEs, you can also evaluate:

http://gnuarmeclipse.livius.net/blog/

[Chris1]

Posted on May 07, 2015 at 15:35

IAR's Embedded Workbench for ARM is probably the most expensive, but well worth the cost, in my opinion. 

The integrated debugging tools are very powerful, and support for virtually all the ARM cortex devices is built in (and continually expanded).  The compiler is likely best-in-class, also, although we don't usually use high optimization levels.

[Singh.Harjit]

Posted on May 08, 2015 at 06:15

I've been using Rowley's Crossworks for several years and have been very happy with it. The debugger is user friendly and solid.

One of their features I really like is that they have a debug library that lets you access the host PC's file system over the JTAG connection.

[John F.]

Posted on May 08, 2015 at 09:35

I'm using STM32F4 and Keil uVision4 (my employer's choice) and the ST Libraries. Previously used Rowley Crossworks with NXP parts and would recommend them as a very productive and helpful UK based team.

I'm uncomfortable about moving to Keil's uVision5 (which attempts compatibility with ST's Cube) and very reluctant to get involved with ST's Cube stuff anyway as it looks to be unnecessarily over-cooked and flaky. Rowley Crossworks has vastly extended its IDE (now at version 3) and also has its own in house developed RTOS and middleware. If I was starting from scratch, I'd probably start again with Rowley as the most integrated system avoiding ST's Cube.

[AvaTar]

Posted on May 08, 2015 at 14:06

Previously used Rowley Crossworks with NXP parts and would recommend them as a very productive and helpful UK based team.

Being a frequent user of Crossworks, I can second this. As an outstanding feature, Rowley sells private licences to a very affordable price, about one-tenth of a commercial licence (which is in the same region as IAR/Keil). And, it has a non-Eclipse based GUI, another important point for Eclipse-hating users (like me).