PICkit 2 Debug Express?

I'm thinking of buying a PIC programmer soon but I'm wondering what the Debug Express does. Does it allow you to select any pins as inputs and outputs for stepping through the program?

colin mac said:

I'm thinking of buying a PIC programmer soon but

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"Debug Express" is a brand name for a set of products that Microchip sells.

You get
1 - PICkit 2 programmer/debugger
1 - 16F887 demo board
and a couple disks with tutorials and demo software

Not such a bad deal. You're getting the demo board for like $10. The PICkit 2 is an excellent programmer/debugger.

Or you could just buy a PICkit 2 by itself, some cable making parts, a solderless breadboard and wires and a few PICs and do it that way. You don't really need their demo board. Doing it yourself gets you a more flexible setup. The tutorials and demo software are all free anyway.

Or you could buy a Blueroom Electronics

I'm wondering what the Debug Express does. Does it allow you to select any pins as inputs and outputs for stepping through the program?

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A debugger allows you to run, halt and single-step thru programs in the actual target chip (not just in a simulator) under computer control. It allows you to examine and change variables on the fly.

And being USB means that debugging with PICkit 2/Junebug is acceptably fast and therefore very useable. I have an ICD2 as well which uses a serial connector. Debugging with it is very slow. Still better than no debugging at all, but not fun.

Thanks futz. When you're stepping through the program, can you make pins
go high and low with debug express? For example, when you're debugging with Keil you can tick checkboxes to simulate pins going high & low.

colin mac said:

Thanks futz. When you're stepping through the program, can you make pins
go high and low with debug express? For example, when you're debugging with Keil you can tick checkboxes to simulate pins going high & low.

Click to expand...

Certainly you can. You can watch, and change any/all registers.

And once more, there is no such thing as "debug express". It's a marketing name. The programmer/debugger is called a PICkit 2. MPLAB is the IDE and debugger console you use to control it.