Developers using C or C++ on Windows to program on the Raspberry Pi Pico have the new Windows installer.
The new Windows installer makes it easier to install the toolchain to start development for the Pi Pico and other RP2040-based boards. Those additional tools are required to use the Raspberry Pi Pico software development kit (SDK).
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Like Gordon Hollingworth of Raspberry Pi explainInstalling a Linux-based toolchain for development from a Raspberry Pi is simple, but installing the toolchain for macOS and Windows is “always a little harder”, and especially for Windows.
Those Windows tools can be useful for those who want to use New $12 Pi Debug Probe to debug a Pi device from a Windows PC connected via USB.
“When we launched the Raspberry Pi Pico and its SDK, our assumption was that everyone would be happy with the Linux-based toolchain. However, we also documented how the toolchain was set up and working. works on both Apple’s macOS and Microsoft Windows for those who want to use those platforms,” Hollingworth noted.
“Unfortunately, while installing the SDK on macOS isn’t terribly different from installing on Linux and works almost out of the box, installing everything on Windows is much harder; it’s just a very different environment.”
Installer developed by engineer Nikhil Dabaswho said it was “roughly equivalent to set pico project for Linux systems.” He also wrote a instruct explains how to set up Pico for Windows development using Microsoft’s popular Visual Studio Code (VS Code) editor, included in tool chain along with Git for Windows, Python 3.9, CMake, etc
Hollingworth notes that Windows users who have VS Code installed may experience problems due to different settings configured due to other VS Code extensions. However, a clean install of VS Code through Dabas’ installer will “just work”, according to Hollingworth.
He also provides instructions for debugging the “hello_serial” example using the Pi Debug Probe and VS Code. The example is generated through the CMake build tool. Currently, there is no similar installer for macOS.
One user, Alex, tried the installer and confirmed the pre-installed VS Code created problems, but on the other said it “works pretty well”. Besides, via InfoWorldthe February stable release of VS Code allows users to create profiles containing extensions, settings, UI states, keyboard shortcuts, etc. These additions help in creating ‘Pico’ profiles becomes simpler.
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“I tried the installer yesterday and it worked pretty well. Like you promised, the installed plugins in my VS code conflict with the new plugins added by the installer. Good luck instead, VS Code now supports profiles, so I created a new profile ‘Pico’ and installed the recommended plugins there.Then it worked smoothly, just press F5, I did can debug Pico apps using the new Pi Debug Probe, which is awesome. Serial output also works fine,” explains Alex.
