ARM Development tools (IDE and Debugger)

[mfeinstein]

I want to start developing embedded applications on ARM and I am looking into the tools options and honestly it's quite confusing.

I am trying to decide on which IDE and debugger I will be using and so far I see the most common are:

IDE:

• MDK-ARM from Keil
• Embedded Workbench from IAR
• Eclipse (with GCC, some other compiler or even IAR or Keil)
• CoIDE from CooCox
• Crossworks from Rowley

Debuggers:

• J-Link from Segger
• ULink from Keil
• I-jet from IAR
• LPC-Link2 from NXP
• Various Olimex JTAG options

Looking into all this options I can so far see that Keil and IAR are the industry most preferred IDE (despite looking horribly old...but most people say they compile very optimized code), and they do have some free versions.

The real issue for me is which debugger to choose. U-link only works with Keil, and I-jet only works IAR, but J-Link work with both and appear to be very good (I am not aware if using J-Link will leave some IDE special functions unavailable, I am just saying it appears to be good because it's faster to upload code). BUT all of them are really expensive (there is a student version of J-Link but it can't be used for profitable projects so I am inclined to not choose that one).

Then comes the classic poor man's choice: Olimex (around U$50-U$75). But Olimex appears to only work with IAR (and I like to have the ability to use the debugger on the IDE) and some other Open Source softwares only.

What puzzles me is I don't see many people speaking about LPC-Link2 from NXP. It's cheaper than all of them and you can upload J-Link firmware and it will work with IAR and Keil for just U$28,00! Since I don't see many people talking about it, it makes me feel there some "catch", something I am missing on it...but so far it appears to be the best option (although I can't find any tech specs on NXP website, and this raises some flags).

So what I want from this post is basically:

• What is your current tools choice (IDE and Debugger)?
• Why?
• Any tools you used before and didn't like?
• Why?
• Did I miss any details or important information in my "tools" options small review?
• Do you know why people don't speak much about the LPC-Link2? Are there any issues with the debugger? Performance is not good or something else? (this question is optional)

PS: I posted this before on electronics.stackexchange but since it's more a survey than a question they put it on hold, what is a shame because their system will be great to upvote the most used and recommended tools automatically. Anyways I hope to find many good options in here with so many talented engineers in this forum

[ElektroQuark]

Buy J-Link EDU. If you make a profitable design with it, buy the full version before release. It will pay for itself then.

[sfx]

I can recommend EmBlocks in combination with the J-Link (EDU). It is very easy, flexible and cheap to start with this setup. Got my first ARM project working within a few minutes.

[AndyC_772]

I'm using CrossWorks, with the CrossConnect cable, or occasionally the ST/LINK V2 that's built into some STM32 dev boards.

Why? Because for a grown-up, easy to use commercial tool it's much more affordable than most others, it came with a personal recommendation from someone I know who uses it every day, and having used it for a while I'm pleased to see that it "just works". This is exactly what I need when I have a customer job that needs doing.

I did try both CoIDE and 'raw' Eclipse, but wasted days of my life trying to set them up, get them working, and work around the stupid bugs. The whole "fix it yourself and be thankful you got anything at all for free" attitude I encountered time and again when looking for support was enough to rule both out of contention permanently.

[mikerj]

I use Keil at work and at home.  It's an extremely slick development environment, one of the best I have used, and of course it is actually owned by ARM.  The downside is cost, if you need more than the free 'Lite' version provides then you'd better have deep pockets.

I have used GCC through the treacle powered behemoth that is Eclipse, it's usable but I didn't enjoy it.

[RenGate]

You can start with one of NXP`s LPCXpresso V2 development boards http://www.lpcware.com/LPCXpressoV2Boards, which were created in collaboration of NXP and Embedded Artists. Those boards contain both LPC-Link 2 debugger/programmer and target MCU, so you can test your circuit with development board and then program soldered MCU using the same boards. I think one of their advantages is availability of official shop http://www.embeddedartists.com/, which ship to many places around the world. NXP also develops LPCXpresso IDE, but I have no experience with it so can`t really say anything about it.

[ElektroQuark]

Nobody likes Freescale Kinetis ARM based MCUs?
Their FREEDOM series of demonstration boards (debugger included) are good to. SEGGER has a free J-LINK compatible debugger for them.

[mfeinstein]

Nobody likes Freescale Kinetis ARM based MCUs?
Their FREEDOM series of demonstration boards (debugger included) are good to. SEGGER has a free J-LINK compatible debugger for them.

What do you mean by free? Will they ship a free debugger when I by a FREEDOM board?

I believe people don't buy much of the Freescale boards because their uC tend to be more expensive and also they native IDE are very costly (although people can always use IAR and etc)....but that's just my point of view and I am new to ARM so who am I to speak about it anyways hahaha