Dive Deeper into NXP's MCUXpresso Ecosystem for VS Code and Application Development
***** Giveaway Alert! *****
Watch this talk before May 5, 2024, for a chance to win one of 30, that's right, 30 FRDM Development Board for MCX N94/N54 MCUs !!!
NXP’s MCUXpresso Ecosystem has added exciting new advantages for developers. NXP’s Visual Studio Code extension makes it easy to use the MCUXpresso suite of software and tools. In addition, the new Application Code Hub provides quick access to examples from NXP’s internal experts that solve challenging requirements of popular applications. Learn how you can benefit from VS Code and the Application Code Hub.
Yes. The user can Import Project wizard and select "Executable".
Import a project based on an existing executable file
What tools are available, whether thru Visual Studio Code or not, for GUI development?
@gordonmx,
NXP supports GUI development with our GUI Guider tool. We are working to integrate within the VS Code extension to simplify launching and importing.
NXP GUI Guider graphical user interface development tool
What DSP tools and librarier are available for MCX N94 ?
@rumian,
The MCX N94x have several DSPs. The tool depends on the DSP.
- CoolFlux BSP. Requires Licensing. Customer wanting to use this DSP should click "Contact Us" for more support. CoolFlux DSP
- PowerQuad. Full support free of charge. The SDK includes examples on how the core can be used.
- Cortex-M33 ARM DSP Instruction Set. CMSIS drivers are in the SDK to support these functions. NXP will look to add examples that use these instructions.
Is it possible to convert existing MCUXpresso IDE project to VSCode? Is there a guide which explains how to perform such process which also contains solutions to common problems?
The MCUXpresso for VS Code extension has continued to improve the Import Project wizard. The recent update now allows MCUXpresso IDE projects to be imported that include the default redlib library. The extension still requires the MCUXpresso IDE project to be built to grab the linker files. However, if you are importing a project, the assumption is that you have built successful... and want to evaluate in VS Code. Otherwise, our MCUXpresso SDK contains the same examples for VS Code/GCC that are found for MCUXpresso IDE.
Thanks for the great overview of the vscode support you've added. What of interest to me is support for building with a toolchain/sdk in a docker container to ensure a consistent build environment and also to build using docker on our jenkins build server. It would be great if this was integrated into your plug in.
Just watched the Q&A. Thanks for the response!
NXP is looking at Docker support. Officially we try to avoid tools that require people to pay. Recently Docker Desktop has required a $5 per user per month subscription. This prevented us from using Docker as a default tool.
That said, NXP understands the benefit, and we are looking at when it could be offered as alternative support for those that pay for the tool.
Thank you for the informative presentation. I have one question about the debugger: does it support thread-level debugging on Zephyr apps? I mean, can we set a breakpoint on one thread while leaving the other threads running?
We have an exercise to help users use Thread-level debugging on Zephyr.
Debugging with Thread awareness - RTOS Viewer
This requires the user to install the "Embedded Tools" extension from Microsoft. NXP is adding our own thread-awareness view in upcoming release.
Hi Kyle,
For the VS Code Tools, are there any plans, or a roadmap for support for the CLANG compiler for your components?
Also, it wasn't clear if you have control over the versions of components such as GCC, and how those components are maintained (local workspace or shared locations?).
Thanks for the video!
@Millies,
We answered this question LIVE.
NXP is looking to add CLANG support with our CMSIS-Pack development. ARM has integrated LLVM/CLANG into the cSolution projects. NXP will look to add this support in the future using this.
Version of SDK, Compiler can be selected through right-click menus. The compiler is selected when the project is created, but can be changed with drop-down.
VS Code is great for setting up individual developers, but not ideal for setting up CI/CD.
Are there any pointers on how to leverage this for setting up a CI/CD?
Does NXP have plans to support build systems like bazel ?
@VK,
I suggest you review the training provided by Beningo Embedded Group. CI/CD Example with MCUXpresso for VS Code
Let us know if you have questions/feedback!
Very good presentation Kyle. All of these tools look promising. I will definitely be trying out Microsoft Visual Studio Code for NXP with SDK and Zephyr.
@Hector,
Would love to receive feedback once you have evaluated!
Thanks for the presentation. Not a big fan of Visual Studio but I like to keep up to date on NXP development updates.
@mttech,
We understand the preference of our customers. You can continue to develop using MCUXpresso IDE, ARM MDK, or IAR Workbench. We want to make VS Code equivalent or better than these trusted platforms, but today they all have unique benefits.
Thank you for the presentation. MCUXpresso and VS Code a great combination to test
@khaled,
Hope you enjoy the development experience. Provide feedback once you begin testing!
Thank you for your great job presenting NXP flavored VS Code!
Thank you!
Does the MCUXpresso VSCode extension only work with the Cortex-M series chips or others as well?
Our current support is for the Cortex-M series of chips. However, we are investigating adding support for other platforms (DSC, iMX...)
Love to see NXP adopt VS Code for editing, deployment, and debugging. This is enticing to try the boards.
@frodohtx,
Glad you are interested. We continue to enter new enhancements for the VS Code extension. Let me know if you have any requests!
Excellent presentation. I definitely need to try these VScode extensions. I see it is very similiar to the workflow of Nordic SDK, and it might not be a coincidence due to Zephyr support. I am very interested in the LPC59 family but definitely I'd like to start with the N94/N54 board.
Thank you Kyle.
@Marco,
Thanks for the feedback. Would love to get some feedback on your experience compared to Nordic.
More verbose output from your Zephyr installer and hints what to do in case it gets stuck would be helpful.
When I tried the installer from within the VSCode plugin on Windows, it first stoppped at not finding gperf sources. Had to manually install gperf. After that it stopped with the message "not finding pip" (but root cause was i had no py.exe).
@Micki,
Sorry you had issues with the Zephyr installer. I have logged this as an issue. There are improvements being made to use a virtual environment for python. This should avoid python issues/conflicts.
Thanks for the presentation! hal.levitt@synergosdesign.com
@Hal,
Hopefully you find these new improvements helpful!
Good presentation. Thanks.
@Goldy,
Appreciate the feedback. Thanks!
Interested in the FRDM-MCX.
What missing debug feature do you want to see added to NXP’s Visual Studio Code extension?
Thank you very much for this overview!
It would be nice to see integrated in VSCode a way to generate a project through a gui like MCUXpresso Config Tools for both MCUXpresso SDK and Zephyr.
For debug porpuses:
- is there a disassembly view?
- when using an RTOS is it possible to debug using thread aware?
Thank you again
@silvio,
Quick answers:
- Great idea to provide a Project generator gui. Stay tuned.
- Yes, Disasembly view is started when in Debug, right click on "Call Stack" or within Editor window. You will find "Open Disassembly View".
- Yes. Thread Aware is available if you install "Embedded Tools" extension from Microsoft. NXP is planning to add our own Thread Aware view in future update.
How can I convert existing MCUXpresso projects to CMake based VSCode projects? I've been struggling with this.
@dcblack
You can review online documentation MCUXpresso IDE Project Converter
The Project Import wizard handles all of the conversion.
You select the folder with the existing MCUXpresso IDE project.
The Wizard notes that it detects the MCUXpresso project in the folder. (Also notes issues)
You select location for converted project. It then converts for VS Code.
Only issue is that the existing project must be Built successfully. That provides the necessary linker file for the conversion.
Interested in the FRDM-MCX.
I'd like to signup for the draw of the development boards.
This happens automatically when you watch the session. Thanks.
Re:
Watch this talk before May 5, 2024, for a chance to win one of 30, that's right, 30 FRDM Development Board for MCX N94/N54 MCUs !!!
Apart from watching the video (which I already did yesterday as "gmacario", see below) what else should I do to have a chance of getting one Eval Board?
Thanks for the presentation, great job!
I am interested in receiving one of the coupons for a free eval boards if you have any left.
Thanks.
Are the settings for the debug configurations at parity with MCUExpressoIDE?
*Specifically configuring JLink Server (Ex. switching between JTAG and SWD, connecting to an external vs creating a new one)
Hi Kyle,
Thank you for the informative video.
Can I use the card of NXP with ESP 32 and program it using NXP's MCUXPRESSO ?
Hi Kyle,
Thank you for the informative video! It is nice to see more and more manufacturers embracing VS code and adding plugins/extensions for it.
Thanks for the video!
What IDE supports the latest MISRA C standard? What level does MCUXpresso or Visual Studio Code support?
Which debug interfaces are supported?
Hi KyleDando-NXP, thanks for your sharing. Can we import a .elf file from a custom build cmake project and debug using NXP’s Visual Studio Code extension?