Nios® II Software Developer Handbook

ID 683525
Date 8/28/2023
Public
Document Table of Contents

3.2. Getting Started with Nios II Software in Eclipse

Writing software for the Nios II processor is similar to writing software for any other microcontroller family. The easiest way to start designing effectively is to purchase a development kit from Intel FPGA that includes documentation, a ready-made evaluation board, a getting-started reference design, and all the development tools necessary to write Nios II programs.

Modifying existing code is a common, easy way to learn to start writing software in a new environment. The Nios II Embedded Design Suite (EDS) provides many example software designs that you can examine, modify, and use in your own programs. Each example is documented and ready to compile.

This section guides you through the most fundamental operations in the Nios II SBT for Eclipse in a tutorial-like fashion. It shows how to create an application project for the Nios II processor, along with the board support package (BSP) project required to interface with your hardware. It also shows how to build the application and BSP projects in Eclipse, and how to run the software on an Intel FPGA® development board.