RaspberryPi Pico SDK Dev Container for VSCode

This project is aimed to provide an easy-to-set-up environment to develop software for the RaspberryPi Pico with the Pico-SDK for C++ | PDF Documentation. This is a Docker image primarly used via Development containers in VSCode.

Available SDK Versions

The following Pico SDK versions are available as pre-built images:

Use latest tag for the most recent version, or pin to a specific version for reproducible builds.

What does this image provide?

Here is what you get:

• All the necessary development tools
  • make
  • cmake
  • gcc-arm-none-eabi
• Pico SDK
• Proper configuration of the development environment
• With the provided devcontainer.json you also get:
  • Pre-installed extensions to work with C++, CMake
  • Creature comfort extensions to make your coding experience better:
    • Nice themes
    • Right-click menu option to duplicate files
    • Rainbow-colored indentation
    • Path intellisense for better autocomplete experience
    • Trailing space highlighting
    • Extensions for better Markdown experience
    • Spell checking

Usage

Prerequisites

If you are here for the first time, we may need to do some work before you begin coding. Make sure you have the following:

• Download and install VSCode
• Install the Dev Containers VSCode extension
• Download and install Docker

Set up your project

TODO: Simple initialization script

1. Open up VSCode, and open a folder (CTRL + k o on Windows/Linux ; CMD + o on Mac) which will be used to develop your project.
2. Create a .devcontainer directory in the main root of the project
3. Create a devcontainer.json file iside of the .devcontainer folder with the following contents:

   // For format details, see https://aka.ms/devcontainer.json. For config options, see the
   // README at: https://github.com/devcontainers/templates/tree/main/src/ubuntu
   // README at: https://github.com/n-i-x/pico-sdk-dev-container
   {
       "name": "Pico-SDK Dev Container",
       // Or use a Dockerfile or Docker Compose file. More info: https://containers.dev/guide/dockerfile
       "image": "ghcr.io/n-i-x/pico-sdk-dev-container:latest",
       "features": {},
       // Features to add to the dev container. More info: https://containers.dev/features.
       // "features": {},
       // Use 'forwardPorts' to make a list of ports inside the container available locally.
       // "forwardPorts": [],
       // Use 'postCreateCommand' to run commands after the container is created.
       // "postCreateCommand": "",
       // Configure tool-specific properties.
       "customizations": {
           "vscode": {
               "extensions": [
                   "twxs.cmake",
                   "ms-vscode.cmake-tools",
                   "ms-vscode.cpptools",
                   "ms-vscode.cpptools-extension-pack",
                   "streetsidesoftware.code-spell-checker",
                   "ms-vscode.cpptools-themes",
                   "PKief.material-icon-theme",
                   "mrmlnc.vscode-duplicate",
                   "oderwat.indent-rainbow",
                   "christian-kohler.path-intellisense",
                   "shardulm94.trailing-spaces",
                   "shd101wyy.markdown-preview-enhanced",
                   "yzhang.markdown-all-in-one"
               ],
               "settings": {
                   "editor.bracketPairColorization.enabled": true,
                   "C_Cpp.default.includePath": [
                       "${workspaceFolder}/**",
                       "${env.PICO_SDK_PATH}/**"
                   ]
               }
           }
       }
       // Uncomment to connect as root instead. More info: https://aka.ms/dev-containers-non-root.
       // "remoteUser": "root"
   }

4. If you have C++ settings configured for your project in .vscode/c_cpp_properties.json in the root directory, remove the following declaration:

   "includePath": [
       "${workspaceFolder}/**",
   ],

5. Run the project inside a Dev Container:
   Press CTRL + SHIFT + P to open the command palette in VSCode and select the Dev Containers: Open Folder in Container option.
6. Create the CMakeLists.txt file with the following contents:

   cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.13)
   
   # initialize the SDK based on PICO_SDK_PATH
   include($ENV{PICO_SDK_PATH}/external/pico_sdk_import.cmake)
   
   project(my_project)
   
   # initialize the Raspberry Pi Pico SDK
   pico_sdk_init()
   
   # rest of your project
   add_executable(main
       main.cpp
   )
   
   # Add pico_stdlib library which aggregates commonly used features
   target_link_libraries(main pico_stdlib)
   
   # create map/bin/hex/uf2 file in addition to ELF.
   pico_add_extra_outputs(main)

7. Now you can use the Pico SDK in your project! Create a main.cpp file and have fun using the pico namespace:

   #include <stdio.h>
   #include <pico/stdlib.h>
   
   int main()
   {
       setup_default_uart();
       printf("Hello, world!\n");
       return 0;
   }

8. Finally, to build your project and get the uf2 firmware, run these commands:

   mkdir build
   cd build
   cmake ..
   make

You can also create a VSCode Task in .vscode/tasks.json for this usecase:

{
    // See https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=733558
    // for the documentation about the tasks.json format
    "version": "2.0.0",
    "tasks": [
        {
            "label": "Build",
            "type": "shell",
            "command": "mkdir build && cd build && cmake .. && make",
            "problemMatcher": []
        }
    ]
}

Feel free to check out the example/ directory to see a sample project where everything is set up properly.