This article uses the MPLAB X IDE development kit (Figure 1) for use with Microchip’s 8-bit microcontrollers in C language through a translation tool called XC8 as a baseline for the next article’s use. The procedure for developing a program with this tool is as follows:

1. Create a project file and set the microcontroller chip type to PIC18F458.
2. Generate a C language file for the XC8 translation Pack.
3. Generate information about microcontroller settings to be pasted into the program code.
4. Compile the program.
5. Bring the resulting file to upload to the board via PICKit2 tool or later.