Re: [PIC]: XC Compilers now free with Pro features

Great! I'm using MPLAB X and XC32 on a hobby project with a PIC32MZ (
https://w6iwi.org/rtty/DspTU3/ ). The current challenge is getting an HTTP
client working with a WINC WiFi module. Since I have a large Google Drive
account, I've been using Google AI to help. One interesting thing that it
pointed out is that with optimization, the compiler assumes a global
variable does not change between calls of a function even though it may
have been changed by another source file. So I've had to declare several
things as volatile so they are reread from RAM.

The PIC32M(x|z) uses the MIPS architecture which has apparently been
abandoned by MIPS in favor of RISC-V.

The long history of MIPS is at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIPS_Technologies

I started with PIC16 chips with EPROM in ceramic packages, then OTP, then
flash, then PIC18, PIC24H, PIC32MX, and PIC32MZ. I just discovered there
is a PIC32A which has hardware double precision floating point and a 40
Msps ADC. From what I'm reading, the PIC32A is built upon the 16 bit
PIC24H/DSP chip, which is an in house design instead of licensed ARM,
MIPS, etc.

Harold
https://w6iwi.org


On Thu, July 9, 2026 12:58 am, Spehro Pefhany wrote:
> Microchip has announced that=C2=A0 XC compilers, including the functional
> safety compiler, and MPLAB Machine Learning suite are now available for
> free, dropping the two-tier free/Pro model.
>
> Although the compilers are=C2=A0 not open-source, this should be particul=
arly
>  welcome in the open-source community since we can share programs and
> others will be able to compile them with the same degree of optimization.
>
>
> Link to press release:
> https://ir.microchip.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/1403/microchip-
> expands-developer-access-with-free-mplab-xc-compilers-and-mplab-machine-l
> earning-development-suite
>
> I very recently revisited an incomplete (non-trivial) older project
> using PIC16F18344 chips and completed it with XC8 with no assembly langua=
ge
> used at all. It's not a cheap 32-bit RISC-V running at >100MHz but it gets
> the job done and has 5V I/O.
>
> Best regards,
>
>
> Spehro Pefhany
>
>
>
>
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>


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