Getting started with PIC microcontrollers

Welcome to the exciting world of microcontrollers! Many people find learning to program microcontrollers and working with electronics to be tremendously fun and rewarding. Getting started is pretty easy, but there are a few things you are going to need:

A PIC programmer (if you want to use PIC microcontrollers)
You can go the cheap route, buying some generic PIC programmer, but I would recommend getting the Microchip ICD3.

Among the many reasons to get the ICD3:

• It erases and programs PICs extremely quickly. The programming time is supposedly 15 times faster than the ICD2. It seems almost instantaneous to me.
  
• The ICD3 doesn't make annoying noises like some clones do. My Olimex ICD2 knock-off made a high pitched noise that would give me headaches, while the ICD3 doesn't.
  
• I've heard that Microchip basically has a lifetime replacement policy, where if your ICD breaks they'll replace it for free. Kudos to Microchip support!

If you can't afford the ICD3's high price, the next best alternative is probably the PICkit 2.

Microchip's MPLAB IDE software
Microchip provides us with a fully-featured integrated development environment with the free MPLAB software..

You will also need to download the compiler for whatever microcontroller family you're using.

MPLAB C for PIC18 v3.38 in LITE mode
MPLAB C Compiler for PIC24 and dsPIC v3.30

The PIC and other components
Obviously you need to have a PIC microcontroller. Microchip has a great sample program for students and engineers!

You will need assorted components, such as capacitors for decoupling and resistors and LEDs for status indicators. You can find a list of parts distributors on the Resources page.