Installing and Using XC8 Compiler on VS Code or any Terminal for compiling C code without MPLab

Prerequisite: Install Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL)

1. Install XC8 Compiler

# Navigate to the directory where the installer is downloaded and move it into your Ubuntu distro's download folder:
wsl
cd Downloads/

# Give execution permission to the installer
chmod +x xc8-v3.00-full-install-linux-x64-installer.run

# Run the installer with sudo
sudo ./xc8-v3.00-full-install-linux-x64-installer.run

2. Add XC8 Compiler to System Path

# Open the shell configuration file (use ~/.zshrc if you use zsh)
nano ~/.bashrc

# Add the following line at the end of the file
export PATH=$PATH:/opt/microchip/xc8/v3.00/bin

# Apply changes
source ~/.bashrc  # Or use source ~/.zshrc if using zsh

3. Verify Installation

xc8-cc --version

4. Create input.c and Makefile in the same folder

Create input.c File

#include <pic.h>

void main() {
// your desire code 
}

Create Makefile

CC = /opt/microchip/xc8/v3.00/bin/xc8-cc
CHIP = -mcpu=16F84A -traditional
SRC = input.c
HEX = main.hex
WIN_DIR = /mnt/c/Users/aryan/Desktop/HEX-folder

transfer: $(HEX)
	rm -f "$(WIN_DIR)/$(HEX)"  # Remove existing HEX file if it exists
	cp $(HEX) $(WIN_DIR)    # Copy HEX file to Windows directory

build: $(HEX)
    $(HEX): $(SRC)
	$(CC) $(CHIP) $(SRC) -o $(HEX)

clean:
	rm -f "$(WIN_DIR)/$(HEX)"  # Also Delete the HEX file in your desktop
	rm -rf $(HEX) __eeprom.* main.* startup.* *.o *.p1 *.d *.cmf *.elf *.hxl *.sdb *.lst *.rlf *.sym

5. Compile and Clean and transfer

To compile

make

To clean the directory

make clean

6. Transfer HEX File to Windows

make transfer