LUFA/ManPages/LUFAvsAtmelStack.txt

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   8  *  \page Page_LUFAvsAtmelStack LUFA vs the Atmel 8-bit USB AVR Stack
   9  *
  10  *  Atmel offers an official 8-bit USB AVR stack, which may be incorporated into user projects and products. As LUFA and the Atmel
  11  *  stack aims to give roughly the same functionality to a design, it is often asked what advantages LUFA carries over the official
  12  *  Atmel USB stack for the 8-bit USB AVRs. Below are just some of the advantages to choosing LUFA over the official Atmel stack.
  13  *
  14  *  - <b>Licensing:</b>
  15  *    LUFA is released under a very permissive MIT license (see \ref Page_LicenseInfo), while the Atmel stack carries several
  16  *    restrictions as to how and where it can be used. LUFA's licensing should be suitable for both Commercial and Non-Commercial
  17  *    entities alike.
  18  *
  19  *  - <b>Demos and Projects:</b>
  20  *    Unlike the Atmel stack, LUFA comes with many different Device and Host mode Demos and Projects ready to run out of the box.
  21  *    Atmel favors separate downloads for each of their (small set) of USB AVR demos, which requires more time and offers less
  22  *    to the end-user. LUFA also contains several open source Bootloaders, which can be modified as the user wishes to suit his or
  23  *    her application, instead of being forced to use Atmel's single prebuilt (closed-source) DFU bootloader.
  24  *
  25  *  - <b>Central Library Code:</b>
  26  *    LUFA is designed to allow the central library core code to be shared amongst several projects, so long as the compiled object
  27  *    files are cleaned between different projects. This is in direct contrast to the Atmel library, which is strongly coupled to the
  28  *    project it is integrated with. Using LUFA allows for only one copy of the library core to be needed for all applications, and
  29  *    makes updating the library used in all projects a trivial copy-and-paste process.
  30  *
  31  *  - <b>Clean API:</b>
  32  *    One of the main design goals of LUFA is to make the API easy to use. While LUFA is a fluid project which has undergone many
  33  *    API improvements, the API is arguably much nicer to use and easier to understand than the equivalent Atmel stack code. LUFA's
  34  *    API is also more complete than the Atmel stack, and contains many features to speed up application development.
  35  *
  36  *  - <b>Full Hardware Support:</b>
  37  *    LUFA supports the full range of Atmel's USB AVR microcontrollers (see \ref Page_DeviceSupport), with porting between chips being
  38  *    as simple as a single compile switch in many cases. Atmel's stack requires different libraries to be used based on the USB AVR
  39  *    microcontroller series, complicating the process of moving between USB AVR models. In addition, LUFA contains drivers for all the
  40  *    hardware contained on Atmel's USB AVR based boards, so you can get started quickly and easily.
  41  *
  42  *  - <b>Better Library Support:</b>
  43  *    As many people are now using LUFA, there is a community being built around it. You can get answers to your LUFA related questions
  44  *    quickly by either emailing the library author (subject to author's schedule) or by posting to the official LUFA support mailing list.
  45  *
  46  *  - <b>More Compact Code:</b>
  47  *    LUFA is written from the ground up to compile optimally, using clean code and good design. Two demos giving the same functionality -
  48  *    the LUFA Low Level API Mouse Demo vs. the Atmel AVR270 HID Mouse application note shows LUFA to be the clear size winner *.
  49  *
  50  *  * <i>LUFA Low Level Mouse Demo: 3510 bytes, Atmel AVR270 Mouse Application Note: 4222 bytes, using an identical build environment.</i>
  51  */
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