Cost, speed and ease of use: when it comes to selecting the right development tools for your project, all three of these factors are important. Sometimes a full-featured tool is too expensive and too hard to use, especially for entry-level users. Flexibility is also important. The tool that you invest in should be able to support a wide range of devices to give you the freedom to innovate.

The MPLAB Snap In-Circuit Debugger/Programmer (PG164100) is one of Microchip’s most affordable debugger to date. Costing just $14.95, the MPLAB Snap offers affordable, fast and easy debugging of most PIC and AVR Flash microcontrollers (MCUs), as well as dsPIC Digital Signal Controllers (DSCs). It is especially designed to deliver all the speed and features entry-level users need to quickly learn about Microchip’s products.

The MPLAB Snap doesn’t skimp on performance though. Just like its companions in the MPLAB development ecosystem— the MPLAB PICkit 4 In-Circuit Debugger/Programmer and MPLAB ICD 4 In-Circuit Debugger—the MPLAB Snap features a 32-bit SAM E70 Arm Cortex-M7 based microcontroller (MCU) running at 300 MIPS. This means that your programming time is now only limited by the programming speed of your target device. Regardless of how large your code size is, the MPLAB Snap can deliver quick programming iterations and basic debugging functionality at an amazingly low price.

To get started, simply connect the MPLAB Snap to your computer using the high-speed USB 2.0 interface, and then connect it to your target MCU using the 8-pin Single In-Line (SIL) connector. This connector uses two device I/O pins and the reset line to implement in-circuit debugging and In-Circuit Serial Programming (ICSPTM). The MPLAB Snap also supports advanced interfaces like 4-wire JTAG and Serial Wire Debug (SWD) with streaming Data Gateway. It is backward compatible with demo boards, headers and target systems using 2-wire JTAG and ICSP.

The MPLAB Snap uses the powerful Graphical User Interface (GUI) of MPLAB X Integrated Development Environment (IDE) version 5.05 and later. While the MPLAB Snap supports most Microchip MCUs, the firmware will continue to be upgraded to add support for new devices. Feature upgrades can be easily managed by installing the latest version of MPLAB X IDE.

Would you like to program and debug your projects in a snap and at an amazingly low price? You can order the MPLAB Snap from microchipDIRECT today.