Visual Micro with Teensy 3 support, new release

Status
Not open for further replies.
I'd really like to have a forum section dedicated to alternative IDE's so users that are looking for alternatives don't have to dig around for that stuff elsewhere in the Forum. Perhaps the WiK will bring some relieve.
 
My hope is to migrate to xenforo in August and add a wiki sometime in September.

Rob is still investigation options for mediawiki.
 
Teensy is now also available in Visual Studio 2015.

For 2015 and beyond Visual Micro has moved from Visual Studio "Add-in" to Visual Studio "Extension". This gives us much great flexibility and more reliable/tighter integration with Visual Studio.

VM_2015_Menu.png

Installation is easier, all you have to do it open Visual Studio. Navigate to "Tools>Extensions and Updates" then click On-line and search for "Arduino". The Visual Micro extension will appear in the list, click Install and re-start.

I haven't had time to make screen shots of Teensy in VS 2015 yet but you can see below one nice change. Microsoft have combined the various Breakpoint settings window into a single pane that appears within the code editor. Not only does this reduce the learning curve for new users it also makes it easier to design breakpoint conditions and add expressions to watch.

Arduino-For-Visual-Studio-2015-Debug-Alter-Variable-Value.png

Home: http://www.visualmicro.com/
Documentation: http://www.visualmicro.com/page/User-Guide.aspx?doc=index
Forum: http://www.visualmicro.com/forums/
 
re #8 above...
For me, using a good IDE like VIsual Studio or IAR is like having a good pair of shoes. I find the Arduino IDE more like barefoot on gravel.

For Visual Studio, FREE is a very good price.
 
Last edited:
I've been using Visual Micro for over a year now with VS 2015 for Arduino projects and i love it. I was very happy when started working with Teensy to find that VM had support there as well. Since then, I've finished two Teensy projects with Visual Micro and can't imagine not being able to work in Teensy with it.
 
I found Visual Studio + Visual Micro to be a much better solution than the OSX-based Xcode + embedXcode solution.

The latter is much more finicky (i.e. no spaces in file names, non-intuitive setup requirements, awful documentation, among other issues) but still a step up from Arduino IDE. However, I have transitioned all code development to Windows because I grew too frustrated with the issues on OSX. XCode I take it makes life very difficult for the embedXcode team with massive changes over time that take a lot of work to accommodate. So I don't blame the developer but I would suggest that EmbedXcode has a steeper learning curve than the Visual route for the simple reason that the Visual solution is much better integrated, operates easily on a GUI basis, and has excellent online documentation that you can print out if needed.

When I transition to a new CPU and a new copy of OSX this summer, I will attempt another go with Xcode+embedXcode. However, I doubt the results will be different. Bottom line for any IDE is not to get into the way. While the Arduino IDE is still pretty terrible, it does require a heck of a lot less work to get going than Xcode+embedxcode. Hence, for a while, I was using BBedit to modify my libraries while writing/uploading the programs that used those libraries with Arduino. Nuts.

All that said, if you are a programmer that is familiar with Xcode, then integrating embedXcode is likely childs play for you. As a novice Xcode user, I found the learning hill too steep to climb. That is also not to say that the Visual solution is perfect - it isn't! For example, there is no easy way to pare down the incredible visual clutter in the pull-down menus to reflect the realities of developing for Teensy vs. all the various things that Visual Studio can do. Similarly, commands for auto-indent (i.e. control-T in Arduinoland) are not easily found. But I'm more than happy to deal with all that in return for a more serene working environment (black screen, smart visual differentiation of variable names, etc.) that allows me to work on the programs and their libraries at the same time.
 
Last edited:
+1

Tools should be used efficiently and should not be inferior or a big time-distraction.

The bifurcated Arduino world is enamored with Platformio (.org), IDE. It's github's Atom browser editor + user-integrated additional software = IDE. http://docs.platformio.org/en/latest/ide/atom.html#installation

Daunting for most users.

Kind of like what mbed pioneered, followed by particle.io's photon.. with its online IDE.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top