| Project
Management
| Native project wizard | Support through the
MPLAB Extension pack |
| Code Editing
| NetBeans-based editor | VS Code
editor |
| Device Support
| All Microchip MCUs
(dsPIC, PIC, AVR, SAM, etc.) | All Microchip MCUs
(dsPIC, PIC, AVR, SAM, etc.) |
| Device Pack
Manager
| Stand-alone manager
integrated in the IDE | Managed from the
project properties through extension and CMake |
| Compiler
Integration
| MPLAB
XC8/XC32/XC-DSC, AVR GCC, Arm GCC, etc. | MPLAB
XC8/XC32/XC-DSC, AVR GCC, Arm GCC, etc. |
| Debugger/Programmer
| Integrated support in
the IDE | Supported by Debug
adapter for MPLAB extension |
| MPLAB Code
Configurator (MCC)
| MCC plug-in (Classic,
Melody, Harmony) | MCC extension
(Melody, Harmony) |
| Data
Visualizer
| MPLAB Data Visualizer
plug-in | MPLAB Data Visualizer
extension |
| MISRA Check / Code
Analysis
| MPLAB Analysis Tool
Suite | Available through
third-party extensions |
| Third-party
Tools
| NetBeans plug-ins,
community plug-ins (through .nbm files) | VS Code Marketplace
extensions (with larger ecosystems) |
| Automation/CI-CD
| CI/CD wizard,
command-line build tools | VS Code tasks, CMake,
command-line integration |
| Documentation/Help
| Integrated help, data
sheet links, code examples | VS Code help, links
to Microchip docs and overviews |
| AI Coding
Assistant
| Not available | MPLAB AI Coding
Assistant extension |
| I/O and Memory
View
| I/O View and Target
Memory Views for registers and pin states | MPLAB IO View
extension |
