Lpc2000

--- In lpc2000@yahoogroups.com, "mhaines4102" <mhaines4102@y...> wrote:
>
> I am about to buy the Ashling Vitra Trace Debug tools. They are about
> half the cost of Realview tools, but is there a significant difference
> between them?
>
Hi,

buying the Ashling Trace tools buys you a debugger, the compiler comes
for free. The same free compiler (GCC) can also be downloaded, the
debugger however works A LOT better than the GDB.

Looking at such a setup you can also look into all other emulator
vendors such as Signum (who already reponded), Hitex, Nohau who have
nice debug solutions working with GCC as well. 

The difference between GCC and e.g. the ARM compiler can be
significant when using libraries (who does not?) or our experience
when using the floating point lib. There have been factors of >2 in
code size and speed. 

If you are developing a product for a company that is supposed to
enter volume production, I would go with tools like ARM, IAR or Keil.
If the budget for the tools is significant compared to the revenue of
the final product, GCC and a debugger is a good option.

If trace is not mandatory, you also might want to have a look at
Rowleys compiler, well put together and works with wiggler. This is a
low cost, yet professional solution as well. Difference to the plain
GNU C-Compiler, you get good support from a person you can call or e-mail.

Cheers, Bob