Best Developement Platform for Startup

[george239955]

Posted on February 13, 2013 at 00:04

Hi All,

We are a new startup and have a proof-of-concept device going on a STM32 being coded in the Keil IDE. However, we are using their evaluation copy which only permits 32KB max program size and we have surpassed that. Previous to using Keil, we tried YARGATO and we were able to compile but when we loaded executable from Keil we were able to get it to work but not the case with YARGATO so we stuck with Keil. Well now we have outgrown it unless we buy a license which is out of our price range at the moment. What is everyone using to develop? Is there something free/open that we can use? We will soon be deving on the STM32W line and will be incorporating the SimpleMAC library. We would require that it be possible to use this library with a different toolchain. We would prefer an environment where we do not have to create our own startup code and low-level/assembly routines. Any recommendations? (P.S. We don't care if it runs on Windows, Linux, or Mac, but if we could choose we would go with Mac)Thanks in Advance, :)George  #keil

[Tesla DeLorean]

Posted on February 13, 2013 at 01:08

Rowley? They have a couple of entry points.

I primarily use Keil as we have a seat for that, and older RealView ADS/SDT and Rowley 1.x Keil has a 256KB version which is cheaper than the full version. Less a decent Mac Book Pro as I recall. I've also been quite successful with Yagarto on several platforms including the STM32 series, if you can't afford a compiler perhaps you can invest some time in debugging your failing condition.

[Andrew Neil]

Posted on February 13, 2013 at 07:45

As clive1 says, Keil has a 256KB version which is cheaper than the ''full'' version.

Code Red could also be worth a look:

http://code-red-tech.com

 - they do advertise a Mac version. BTW: if you do go Mac you will be very much in the minority for embedded development. This is not necessarily a comfortable position to be in...

[zomirp2]

Posted on February 13, 2013 at 21:27

Have a look at this other

https://my.st.com/public/STe2ecommunities/mcu/Lists/STM32Discovery/Flat.aspx?RootFolder=https://my.st.com/public/STe2ecommunities/mcu/Lists/STM32Discovery/STM32F4-Discovery%20based%20debugger&FolderCTID=0x01200200770978C69A1141439FE559EB459D75800084C20D8867EAD444A5987D47BE638E0F&currentviews=41

. I was just browsing and saw your question. Maybe GCC is not what you are looking for. You should know what your code is doing including startup. Sometimes you can optimize the startup and reduce the overall size.

[Tesla DeLorean]

Posted on February 13, 2013 at 23:01

You should know what your code is doing including startup. Sometimes you can optimize the startup and reduce the overall size.

Startup as in company in a garage with no money.

[zomirp2]

Posted on February 14, 2013 at 01:56

We would require that it be possible to use this library with a different toolchain. We would prefer an environment where we do not have to create our own startup code and low-level/assembly routines.

Or as startup in crt0.s :)

[root]

Posted on February 14, 2013 at 20:26

Hello,

I'm using TASKING and it's a very good IDE (based on Eclipse and Altium's own compiler), but price is about 2k with first year of maintenance. I don't know the exact limitations of the free version, but I used Atollic TRUEStudio for a few small projects (or just for some tests) and it seems quite nice. It also depends on the JTAG probe you plan on using. I started with ST Link / ST Link v2 then switched to SEGGER Flasher ARM (the ones we use in production), the J-Link is a lot more powerful and faster. But both TASKING and Atollic support ST Link and J-Link. Never tried KEIL or other non-Eclipse based IDEs for more than 15 min, I just can't use them, but their compiler seems really nice. I know people using GCC with 3rd party IDE and OpenOCD ... it all depends on the price and the time you can allocate to installing/tuning/debugging you toochain (and time is money ....). Thomas.

[emalund]

Posted on February 15, 2013 at 02:50

have a proof-of-concept device

this indicates production with production the tool cos get split over so many devices that the cost becomes irrelevant.  Hobbyitsr can afford to trade time for money, but as your Yagarto experience show, that is a silly direction for prefessionl go with Keil or IAR Erik

[Andrew Neil]

Posted on February 15, 2013 at 08:47

''Never tried KEIL or other non-Eclipse based IDEs for more than 15 min, I just can't use them''

Many people used to non-Eclipse IDEs find the same problem with Eclipse! Eclipse really does have quite a different ''mindset'' from ''conventional'' IDEs like Keil and IAR...''I know people using GCC with 3rd party IDE and OpenOCD ... it all depends on the price and the time you can allocate to installing/tuning/debugging you toochain (and time is money ....)''Exactly! That really does seem to be where the so-called ''free'' (sic) tools fall down! If you're a professional with a product to get to market, you really must consider not only the cost of your time, but also the ''opportunity cost'' of being late to market...

[root]

Posted on February 15, 2013 at 20:24

I developped for years with Visual Sudio, Eclipse and even Netbeans based IDEs.

I guess it's the 3 main IDEs platforms available on the market, and they share the same ''mindset''. I don't consider intellisense (or whatever the name) a ''mindset'', it's just something I can't develop without anymore :D Thomas.