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Amphibionics 03 3/24/03 8:11 AM Page 29
Chapter 3 / Microcontrollers and PIC Programming
PicBasic Pro Compiler.

controllers. It can be purchased from microEngineering Labs, FIGURE 3.3
whose Web site is located at www.microengineeringlabs.com.

The BASIC language is much easier to read and write than
Microchip assembly language, and will be used to program the
robots in this book. The PicBasic Pro Compiler is “BASIC Stamp II-
like,” and has most of the libraries and functions of both the BASIC
Stamp I and II. Because it is a true compiler, programs execute
much faster, and may be longer than their Stamp equivalents.

One of the advantages of the PicBasic Pro Compiler is that it uses
a real IF..THEN..ELSE..ENDIF, instead of the IF..THEN(GOTO) of
the Stamps. These and other differences are spelled out in the PBP
manual.

PicBasic Pro (PBP) defaults to create files that run on a PIC 16F84-
04/P clocked at 4 MHz. Only a minimum of other parts are neces-
sary: two 22pf capacitors for the 4-MHz crystal, a 4.7K pull-up

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