Author Topic: What is the best free IDE for the STM32 mixrocontrollers ?  (Read 51859 times)

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Offline whatsthegeekTopic starter

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What is the best free IDE for the STM32 mixrocontrollers ?
« on: February 10, 2018, 12:05:20 pm »
Hi, I've been trying to get into ARM microcontrollers for a while and I just found out how great STM32s are !
They're cheap and full of usefull stuff compared to the SAM3x from Atmel/Microchip

The problem is I need an IDE. Do anyone of you know what is the best free IDE for the STM32s ?

Thanks in advance !
 
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Offline balu

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Re: What is the best free IDE for the STM32 mixrocontrollers ?
« Reply #1 on: February 10, 2018, 12:25:57 pm »
Hello,

Atollic TrueStudio for STM32 - one of the best IDE with cool debug capabilities.  :)
 

Offline ralphrmartin

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Re: What is the best free IDE for the STM32 mixrocontrollers ?
« Reply #2 on: February 10, 2018, 05:33:32 pm »
I found mbed to be a good way to start, using either the online ide, or mbed-cli. If you want to then export your project to an external ide, I'd go with Visual Studio Code, as it seems easiest to set up the debugging with this rather than any of the Eclipse based solutions. (Unfortunately, export to Atollic is not supported).
 

Offline ataradov

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Re: What is the best free IDE for the STM32 mixrocontrollers ?
« Reply #3 on: February 10, 2018, 05:54:29 pm »
Just to be fair, you are comparing a modern MCU from ST with an outdated part from Atmel. Atmel MCUs from the same generation have similar set of features and peripherals.

And ST just bought Atolic Studio, so it will be your best bet going forward with ST.
Alex
 
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Offline Yansi

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Re: What is the best free IDE for the STM32 mixrocontrollers ?
« Reply #4 on: February 11, 2018, 02:21:53 am »
Hello,

Atollic TrueStudio for STM32 - one of the best IDE with cool debug capabilities.  :)

Haven't look at that puppy yet, but what cool debug support does it have? If you can't poke single bits with correct bit names assigned in the peripheral register viewer, then I'd consider that debug support the same garbage as every free tool, like the AC6 Workbench is.

Also, GCC compiler is troublesome in some cases. Not say that it is not usable, but has it's quirks, that are well polished in those other ones.

I would suggest using the proper tool for ARM: Keil uVision.
 

Offline nctnico

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Re: What is the best free IDE for the STM32 mixrocontrollers ?
« Reply #5 on: February 11, 2018, 11:22:24 am »
Hi, I've been trying to get into ARM microcontrollers for a while and I just found out how great STM32s are !
If I where you I'd check NXP's LPC series ARM controllers as well. IMHO these are better than ST's where it comes silicon bugs and to low-level software compatibility across their entire range so if you know how to use one, then you also know how to use the rest. This makes it easier to choose a microcontroller which fits a particular project.
There are small lies, big lies and then there is what is on the screen of your oscilloscope.
 

Offline whatsthegeekTopic starter

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Re: What is the best free IDE for the STM32 mixrocontrollers ?
« Reply #6 on: February 11, 2018, 01:25:28 pm »
Quote
If I where you I'd check NXP's LPC series ARM controllers as well. IMHO these are better than ST's where it comes silicon bugs and to low-level software compatibility across their entire range so if you know how to use one, then you also know how to use the rest. This makes it easier to choose a microcontroller which fits a particular project.

Didn't kow about thoe ones ^^ Though, I already chose the STM32F769BIT6 for my project and it seems more apropriate than the LCP series  :D

Thanks for all the IDE sugestions, I'll try them all and see which one is better  :)
 

Offline hiperco

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Re: What is the best free IDE for the STM32 mixrocontrollers ?
« Reply #7 on: February 11, 2018, 04:49:35 pm »
I would suggest using the proper tool for ARM: Keil uVision.

+1 for Keil uVision.  Free for up to 32KB code size
 

Offline andyturk

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Re: What is the best free IDE for the STM32 mixrocontrollers ?
« Reply #8 on: February 11, 2018, 07:13:57 pm »
Also, GCC compiler is troublesome in some cases.
How so?
 

Offline ralphrmartin

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Re: What is the best free IDE for the STM32 mixrocontrollers ?
« Reply #9 on: February 11, 2018, 07:19:00 pm »
Smallest exported mbed project is nearer 64k, so the 32k version of Keil is too limiting, in my experience. Also, export from mbed to uvision fails to produce compilable code, which is inexcusable as they are both ARM products. It does not seem to me that ARM take development tools very seriously. They put terrific effort into their cores, but downstream I'm not so sure.
 

Offline nctnico

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Re: What is the best free IDE for the STM32 mixrocontrollers ?
« Reply #10 on: February 11, 2018, 08:15:55 pm »
Also, GCC compiler is troublesome in some cases.
How so?
I'd like to know that too. I have not run into problems for the past >10 years of using GCC for ARM.
There are small lies, big lies and then there is what is on the screen of your oscilloscope.
 

Offline ataradov

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Re: What is the best free IDE for the STM32 mixrocontrollers ?
« Reply #11 on: February 11, 2018, 08:17:19 pm »
How so?
I'd like to know that too. I have not run into problems for the past >10 years of using GCC for ARM.
Don't worry. This is something IAR and Keil users say because they got ripped off and paid for inferior product :)

Alex
 

Offline andyturk

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Re: What is the best free IDE for the STM32 mixrocontrollers ?
« Reply #12 on: February 12, 2018, 12:28:16 am »
Don't worry. This is something IAR and Keil users say because they got ripped off and paid for inferior product :)

Well, Reinhard Keil works for ARM itself on the CMSIS 5 project, and they use GCC as part of the validation suite. Seems like a pretty good endorsement.
 

Offline ataradov

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Re: What is the best free IDE for the STM32 mixrocontrollers ?
« Reply #13 on: February 12, 2018, 12:32:23 am »
Yes, and Arm Compiler Version 6 is using Clang as a compiler anyway. They pretty much gave up on trying to catch up with GCC/Clang.

Note, I'm only talking about the compiler, not the library ecosystem and IDE. People may have different preferences there. From proprietary stuff, I personally like IAR more, but again, it is a matter of personal preference.
« Last Edit: February 12, 2018, 12:34:06 am by ataradov »
Alex
 

Offline pigrew

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Re: What is the best free IDE for the STM32 mixrocontrollers ?
« Reply #14 on: February 12, 2018, 12:43:11 am »
Thanks for reminding me that Truestudio is the popular IDE now.

I had been using System Workbench last year, which based on Google trends has suddenly swapped popularity statistics with Truestudio about a month ago.
 

Offline technix

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Re: What is the best free IDE for the STM32 mixrocontrollers ?
« Reply #15 on: February 15, 2018, 12:46:13 pm »
IMO for the maximum compatibility, I would prefer vanilla Eclipse CDT + GNU MCU Eclipse + GCC Arm embedded. This is a completely unbranded kit, takes a little bit of elbow grease to set up, but after it is done it offers the same high quality debugging experience for all brands of microcontrollers, across all major platforms.
 

Offline Gibson486

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Re: What is the best free IDE for the STM32 mixrocontrollers ?
« Reply #16 on: February 16, 2018, 02:34:49 pm »
Hi, I've been trying to get into ARM microcontrollers for a while and I just found out how great STM32s are !
If I where you I'd check NXP's LPC series ARM controllers as well. IMHO these are better than ST's where it comes silicon bugs and to low-level software compatibility across their entire range so if you know how to use one, then you also know how to use the rest. This makes it easier to choose a microcontroller which fits a particular project.

Both ST and NXP/Freescale are pretty good to start with. The one thing that ST was lacking years a go was a nice free non stripped down IDE. Freescale had them beat in that regard (and not too mention that the API was much better than ST's). The IDE from Freescale was bug not free, but it still was better than what ST had to offer. However, ST bought Atollic and now this is not an issue (previously, you could get Atollic, but you had no debugger). 

One thing that ST is doing now is developing there own eco system instead of just relying on MBED, which is sort facing an identity crisis at the moment. Because of that, I have to give the edge to ST for beginners. Yes, I like the NXP/Freescale libraries better, but ST has kind of made everything generic, even down to the hardware. Different lines of different chips have the same or similar pin outs.  They even tell you in their manuals how to design your board with upgrading or downgrading across chip lines. In fact, all the nucleo boards of the same line are the same exact board, just with the chip replaced and maybe one or two resistors. The cubemx software is not bad (last I tried, the Freescale version that was integrated in the IDE did not work well, but this was 3 years ago). The other added bonus is the cheap JTAG that you can buy from ST. Also, when it comes to me having to outsource work, it seems that more people come forward when it is the ST platform. With Freescale/NXP, I really had to go digging to find someone.

In therms of silicon bugs, not sure I agree with that, but I have only used these micros for 5 years, so I am still kind of immature with them. However, as I mentioned, the API Freescale was much more accessible. Without using the any code generation programs, it took me about 10 minutes to figure out how to blink an LED. It took me an hour to do the same task (without cubemx) with ST.

In the end, the best thing to do would be to acquire a board from each and see how long it takes you to do a simple task on each (like blink and LED). Which ever one you like better and find easier is what you should use. At the end of the day, you are gonna be forced to use what your job tells you to use (unless you are the one that gets to pick). The much more important thing is to learn how to read the tech sheet and APIs. The whole use the most generic IDE thing does not really matter because both of those IDEs are just eclipse anyways and most hardcore firmware jobs use IDEs that cost money.

 

Offline Gibson486

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Re: What is the best free IDE for the STM32 mixrocontrollers ?
« Reply #17 on: February 16, 2018, 02:37:41 pm »
How so?
I'd like to know that too. I have not run into problems for the past >10 years of using GCC for ARM.
Don't worry. This is something IAR and Keil users say because they got ripped off and paid for inferior product :)

Yeah, my previous job did everything in Linux. GCC with ARM worked fine.  In fact, in't that what all the open source IDEs use anyways?
 
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Offline MT

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Re: What is the best free IDE for the STM32 mixrocontrollers ?
« Reply #18 on: February 16, 2018, 02:58:53 pm »
Hi, I've been trying to get into ARM microcontrollers for a while and I just found out how great STM32s are !
They're cheap and full of usefull stuff compared to the SAM3x from Atmel/Microchip
The problem is I need an IDE. Do anyone of you know what is the best free IDE for the STM32s ?
Thanks in advance !

STM32 are not great they are cumbersome and aggravating! Embits and Atollic for now, later dunno...
 

Offline ralphrmartin

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Re: What is the best free IDE for the STM32 mixrocontrollers ?
« Reply #19 on: February 16, 2018, 04:47:21 pm »
Given all the praise for Atollic I thought I would try it (Atollic 9.0.0 for STM32, that is).
Installed it, started off making a new C/C++ project, and BAM! before I could do anything, it crashed with an Internal Error.
Not impressed.
 

Offline andyturk

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Re: What is the best free IDE for the STM32 mixrocontrollers ?
« Reply #20 on: February 16, 2018, 06:46:10 pm »
STM32 are not great they are cumbersome and aggravating!
Uh, maybe you're doing it wrong?  :P  :-//
 

Offline MT

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Re: What is the best free IDE for the STM32 mixrocontrollers ?
« Reply #21 on: February 16, 2018, 06:54:42 pm »
STM32 are not great they are cumbersome and aggravating!
Uh, maybe you're doing it wrong?  :P  :-//
Like using  HAL and trying to understand 4000 pages of Frenchofilated egglish? :horse:
Oh i forgot the programming manual from ARM  to , so thats like 5000pages!
« Last Edit: February 16, 2018, 06:57:10 pm by MT »
 

Offline ataradov

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Re: What is the best free IDE for the STM32 mixrocontrollers ?
« Reply #22 on: February 16, 2018, 07:04:33 pm »
Like using  HAL and trying to understand 4000 pages of Frenchofilated egglish? :horse:
Oh i forgot the programming manual from ARM  to , so thats like 5000pages!

Do you have an example of MCU that is as powerful, but comes with shorter manuals?
Alex
 

Offline technix

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Re: What is the best free IDE for the STM32 mixrocontrollers ?
« Reply #23 on: February 17, 2018, 12:12:36 am »
Like using  HAL and trying to understand 4000 pages of Frenchofilated egglish? :horse:
Oh i forgot the programming manual from ARM  to , so thats like 5000pages!

Do you have an example of MCU that is as powerful, but comes with shorter manuals?
If you skip HAL/CubeMX you have 2k pages of manuals to read for one STM32. CubeMX/HAL/LL is another 2k pages and code bloat there is real.
 
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Offline donotdespisethesnake

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Re: What is the best free IDE for the STM32 mixrocontrollers ?
« Reply #24 on: February 17, 2018, 10:44:33 am »
MBED, which is sort facing an identity crisis at the moment.

What is the crisis you refer to? I noticed they are trying to position more towards IoT/cloud type stuff, but I haven't been following it too closely.
Bob
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