PIC MCUs: Software

The CCS C Windows IDE is a software package that includes a source code editor, a C compiler, and an interface with a programming device (such as the ICD-U40). Together, these three components make up an Integrated Development Environment, or IDE. The general purpose of the IDE is to allow the user to create and edit a source code in C, then compile and program that code into a PIC microcontroller.

Install and Setup

Installing the CCS C Windows IDE is quite straightforward. Simply run the setup file from the C Compiler installation disk, and follow the on screen instructions. At a certain point in the installation, the installer will request a directory to be used for program storage. The default will be C:\Program Files\PICC\Projects , however you may wish to change this depending on where you would like your projects to be stored.

Project Basics

Although the programming done in the Windows IDE is done by directly editing only the source file, many other files will be generated upon compiling the source file. All of these files will be saved into the same directory as the source file, and will have the same name (with different file extensions). A list of file extensions and their meanings is given below.