Can I develop with the Arduino using an IDE with more features?

Question

The simplicity of the open source Arduino IDE is great, but a bit limiting sometimes - I like to use Netbeans for instance for other work that I do. Do any plugins exist for more fully featured IDEs that would allow me to develop for the Arduino (and directly upload / run code on it?) So far my searches haven't brought much up.

Yeah, the programming limitations of the Adruino IDE are very strict! I normally use Eclipse but not for Arduino (yet). — powtac, Apr 09 '13 at 18:51
There is Microsoft's VS that can be used with netduino. That is loaded... But unfortunately only for window. And if you are not a student or educator I believe it is quite expensive. And it is for netduino, not Arduino. Still, very capable if you have the hardware and software. — Sponge Bob, Apr 10 '13 at 06:18
There is no Arduino IDE. There is just a really crappy text editor with a "Compile" button. — Connor Wolf, Jun 19 '13 at 06:33

score 15 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 09 '13 at 18:56

15

You can use CodeBlocks for arduino. CodeBlocks already works with quite a few microcontrollers, so I'm guessing that the arduino dev environment will be quite robust.

There is also an Eclipse plugin for Arduino.

answered Apr 09 '13 at 18:56

Manishearth

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score 12 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 09 '13 at 19:24

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Atmel Studio is the development environment Atmel provides for the microcontrollers behind the Arduino line. Atmel Studio 6 is based on Microsoft's Visual Studio which is a very complete C++ development tool.

You can customize Atmel Studio 6 to work with the Arduino libraries and compiler, as documented here.

answered Apr 09 '13 at 19:24

Jay

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Do I need a copy of MS Visual Studio for AVR Studio? – powtac Apr 09 '13 at 21:46
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@powtac - No... – Connor Wolf Apr 10 '13 at 03:47

score 9 · Answer 3 · answered Apr 09 '13 at 19:52

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Not an IDE per se, but I have been using the Stino plugin for Sublime Text 2.

answered Apr 09 '13 at 19:52

score 8 · Answer 4 · answered Apr 09 '13 at 22:17

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I really like using Visual Micro, a plugin for Visual Studio, which works with the 2008, 2010, and 2012 editions.

Visual Micro on Codeplex

Screenshot in Visual Studio 2012: VisualMicro plugin for Visual Studio 2012

answered Apr 09 '13 at 22:17

Visual Studio isn't exactly within the budget of most beginner hobbyists though, considering the price of an arduino. – Octopus Apr 10 '13 at 07:37
@Octopus - Until March 12, 2013 you could get it for free through MS Website Spark for 3 years, and now Visual Micro reports to be making the plugin work with Atmel Studio within the next few months. – Apr 10 '13 at 17:14
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The new visual setup of VS2012 is horrific. – Sponge Bob Apr 10 '13 at 06:20

score 6 · Answer 5 · answered Apr 09 '13 at 22:21

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For OS X, there is a set of templates that add Xcode compatibility. Includes support for autocompletion and integrated documentation.

http://playground.arduino.cc/Main/EmbedXcode

answered Apr 09 '13 at 22:21

bbum

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score 5 · Answer 6 · answered Apr 09 '13 at 19:32

ROBOTC for Arduino is another option. It supports a lot of other features, including multitasking (which is nice for robots). It also has a built-in debugging window that lets you access pin information, etc.

This software package has the benefit of working with multiple other robot platforms (all LEGO robot systems and VEX robotics), so people with experience with those systems may prefer this language.

score 4 · Answer 7 · answered Apr 09 '13 at 18:59

http://inotool.org/ is one of the best especially if you're on a Unix OS.

It's a command line tool, but it's amazing if you're a fan of the command line.

You simply create a folder, and set up the environment using Ino. Then, you use your favorite text editor or IDE.

Can I develop with the Arduino using an IDE with more features?

7 Answers7