/** \file * * This file contains special DoxyGen information for the generation of the main page and other special * documentation pages. It is not a project source file. */ /** * \page Page_LUFAvsAtmelStack LUFA vs the Atmel Stack * * Atmel offers an official USB AVR stack, which may be incorporated into user projects and products. As LUFA and the Atmel * stack aims to give roughly the same functionality to a design, it is often asked what advantages LUFA carries over the * official Atmel USB stack. Below are just some of the advantages to choosing LUFA over the official stack. * * - Licensing: * LUFA is released under a very permissive MIT license (see \ref Page_LicenseInfo), while the Atmel stack carries several * restrictions as to how and where it can be used. LUFA's licensing should be suitable for both Commercial and Non-Commercial * entities alike. * * - Demos and Projects: * Unlike the Atmel stack, LUFA comes with many different Device and Host mode Demos and Projects ready to run out of the box. * Atmel favors separate downloads for each of their (small set) of USB AVR demos, which requires more time and offers less * to the end-user. LUFA also contains several open source Bootloaders, which can be modified as the user wishes to suit his or * her application, instead of being forced to use Atmel's single prebuilt (closed-source) DFU bootloader. * * - Central Library Code: * LUFA is designed to allow the central library core code to be shared amongst several projects, so long as the compiled object * files are cleaned between different projects. This is in direct contrast to the Atmel library, which is strongly coupled to the * project it is integrated with. Using LUFA allows for only one copy of the library core to be needed for all applications, and * makes updating the library used in all projects a trivial copy-and-paste process. * * - Clean API: * 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 * API improvements, the API is arguably much nicer to use and easier to understand than the equivalent Atmel stack code. LUFA's * API is also more complete than the Atmel stack, and contains many features to speed up application development. * * - Full Hardware Support: * LUFA supports the full range of Atmel's USB AVR microcontrollers (see \ref Page_DeviceSupport), with porting between chips being * as simple as a single compile switch in many cases. Atmel's stack requires different libraries to be used based on the USB AVR * microcontroller series, complicating the process of moving between USB AVR models. In addition, LUFA contains drivers for all the * hardware contained on Atmel's USB AVR based boards, so you can get started quickly and easily. * * - Better Library Support: * As many people are now using LUFA, there is a community being built around it. You can get answers to your LUFA related questions * quickly by either emailing the library author (subject to author's schedule) or by posting to the official LUFA support mailing list. */