Better alternative to arduino IDE ?

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nekidfrog

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Started on uno, ended up going to nano and now teensy's. I have become a huge fan of working with the teensy 3.0 but as much as I love working with it and c++, the arduino IDE seems to be the crutch in going forward. Lack of real support for multi tab project including building libraries at the same time as a project is frustrating. I hate having to have notepad opened for my library coding and arduino ide for the project to test new code. Looking for alternatives. Any suggestions ?
 
I'm not quite sure what that actually does.. besides gray out the window and make it non editable. What editor do you use to write with then?

hmm notepad++ seems interesting
 
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It makes the code non-editable in Arduino. Then you can use whatever editor you prefer. To compile and upload, save in your editor, then click the upload button on the non-editable Arduino window. It will read the files before compiling. If you watch the grayed-out window, the code will update to whatever you've edited, right before it compiles and uploads.

That's not as nice as having a button right in your editor to save, compile and upload with just one click.... but it's pretty easy to set up. It does have the advantage of using Arduino's build process. If you're just making your own project, a slightly different build process is fine. You only need to get your project working, and sometimes a slightly different build process is even helpful. If you're writing libraries and infrastructure for others to use (what I mostly do), using Arduino's build process is best for ensuring compatibility.
 
I have to agree this makes writing my library much easier now that it's in a c++ editor with my project. It just sucks the arduino IDE can't have both open at the same time. But hey can't complain considering all they've done. Including what you have as well!
 
For those of us that use a windows PC there is a plug-in from VisualMicro that helps you using the Atmel Visual Studio (AVS) for editing & debugging arduino/teensy sketches. The advantage is that you actually compile & debug with AVS but for compatibility also can compile & upload within the Arduino IDE (as recommended by Paul).

It take some effort to get it running, but It is a welcome way for editing and debugging for people like me that can use the IDE to learn more on syntax (intellisense) and work in a universal IDE for uC's. The developer has a youtube video showing the possibilities of advanced debugging. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFM8_RhIG0U

The plug-in helps me quite a bit to understand what is going on in sketches and why things are going wrong.

See also: http://forum.pjrc.com/threads/6599-Using-Teensy-with-Atmel-Studio
 
What does it take to build a project for the Teensy3 with just the arm-none-eabi tools and a Makefile? Id like to avoid the IDE all together and also get a better understanding of the complie/link process for the teensy3. Thanks!
 
C++ and C.
Using the Arduino and Teensy libraries - same concept: setup(), loop() - just using Eclipse as the IDE, builder, linker, with GCC.
Also uses the PJRC downloader.
optional, I'm using FreeRTOS as ported to Teensy3 by Headroom and others. With it, "loop()" is not the main program; it is called by the RTOS when no tasks are ready to run. The "setup()" call is where you create RTOS tasks and start the RTOS scheduler which should not return. You can create/exit tasks later, as needed. But you must create at least one task.

Eclipse simply replaces the Arduino editor and IDE. Much better for other than very simple programs.

This is in Win 7, 64 bit, not Linux.
I think others are doing the same, via Linux.
 
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The Arduino Eclipse Plugin, just like Eclipse, runs in Windows, Linux or Mac OSX environments.
As stevetech has explained it uses the Toolchains that Arduino and Teensyduino ( for Teensy3) installs into the Arduino IDE.
It is relatively simple to install and the console output during compilation explains very well what gets compiled and linked with what options.
 
Night and day -
for a project with 3 or more source files - the "editor on steroids" in Eclipse speeds all of this up immensely.
If you've used MS Visual Studio C/C++, or similar, you'll know the difference between an "editor" and a tool.
 
I use Notepad++ plus a Make file and I call 'Make' from the command prompt to (re)build. I have shortcuts in my project directory to 'HID Listen' and 'Teensy Loader' for debugging and flashing respectively.
 
Thank for all the practical info.
I also use Arduino IDE with external editor enabled just as Paul. Editor is Notepad++.
What I am missing is the jump to lines containing errors.
Can this be implemented in some easy way?
(I believe that in the next project I will switch to eclipse. Sounds professional.)
 
I'm quite happy with freeware Atmel's version of MS Visual Studio + freeware Visual Studio that supports, among others, Teensy 2, 3.
Full IDE with Intellisense, "go to where defined", and so on.
Optional not-freeware source debugger.

http://www.visualmicro.com/

This combo is a full IDE, not just an editor.
 
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Hi,

take a look at the PROGRAMINO IDE for Arduino.

It's a low DIY budget pricing and comfortable easy-to-use IDE for Arduino, Genuino or similar boards with Code-Autocomplete,
Custom Syntax Highlighting, analog Plotter, Hardware Viewer, HEX-File extraction, HTML5 Editor.

In future, there should also be a debugger and an oscilloscope, advanced search, more IoT tools and enhanced Web Editor.

30 Euros (excl. VAT) for the non-commercial version - good. the more IDEs, the better !!!

But since it's Windows-only, does is improve on the free VisualMicro+Visual Studio Combo?
 
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