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Related to:
If you are writing code for a microcontroller is there a real difference if you write in assembly or C or some other high level language? If you wrote C code, how would you compile it?
Thanks
Related to:
If you are writing code for a microcontroller is there a real difference if you write in assembly or C or some other high level language? If you wrote C code, how would you compile it?
Thanks
Most microcontroller manufacturers provide some sort of cross-compiler where you can compile the code on your PC and then transfer it over to the microcontroller.
Why C?
An advantage of C is that your code will be easier to port to other microcontrollers in the future. The history of computing has shown that code typically outlasts hardware implementations.
A second advantage is control structures (if, for, while) that make code more readable and maintainable.
Why Assembly Language?
You can hand craft optimizations.
Verdict
As is often the case with this sort of question, the trade-offs are very dependent on the specific use.
Be aware that it is often possible to mix the two by making assembly calls within C code, so you can find a balance that is right for your project.
Specific to the PIC hardware
It seems that you don't have the option of GCC with most PIC hardware. On the other hand, as a commenter noted, the Microchip C30 compiler for the 16-bit PIC24 and dsPIC33 is gcc.
PIC is also not yet supported by SDCC.
New Info: according to a comment, SDCC has workable support for PIC.
There are some other open source options, but I don't have experience with them.
One issue I ran into with writing assembly for a microcontroller is the need to be very careful how your code was laid out. Having a jump table cross memory boundaries, and causing your code to jump to really weird places is rather disturbing. Coding in C, the compiler covers that base for you.