New dsPIC/PIC24 4.80 beta compilers are released! And there are some pretty exciting stuff. For the first time, we have introduced ICD as a separate DLL module, and enhanced ICD code drastically. No more long waitings when you hit Step-over [F8], Step-into[F7] or Step-out[Ctrl+F8]. We have come up to recognize this attention so we can step over the function by placing a hardware breakpoint to the next line of code, and execute the function cycles in live mode. It would be as if you ordered the ICD to Run To Cursor (F4) over to the next line of code. We have also introduced Advanced Breakpoints, so you can exploit the full potential of this new approach. You can now place as many breakpoints as you want, but leave active only so many as there are hardware breakpoints available on your target MCU. This way you can have an extremely fast debugging. This new approach is very powerful, but it still young, not tested for a long time, and this is why it is very crucial that you participate in testing, so we can have as much of your feedback as possible for the final release.
But this is not the only thing new. We have introduced Project Explorer, a great new window for easier access to the examples and your projects. It uses fast recursion algorithms for fast searching of your project files within folder tree. You'll get used to it quickly, and you'll love working with it. At least we do. We have also upgraded our collection of libraries. We added Memory manager library, so you'll be able to use dynamic memory allocation in your dsPIC projects. With your help, we have tracked down and fixed some issues that caused crashing of IDE, so you'll have a more stable environment to work in. We have increased the speed of reading MCL files even more, so your compiler will load and compile more quickly. Click here to download your favorite dsPIC/PIC24 compiler, and see what else is new.