Programmers
A programmer targets a silicon family; a test socket targets a chip package. Knowing which constraint applies — toolchain compatibility or physical footprint — saves an order.
ST-LINK/V2 and STLINK-V3MINIE for STM32, Atmel-ICE for AVR/SAM, MPLAB PICkit 4 for PIC, USBtinyISP for Arduino bootloaders. FPGA download cables and a large assortment of Waveshare-supplied Plastronics burn-in sockets for bare QFN and MLF chips fill the rest of the group.
- Match programmer to silicon: ST-LINK/V2 and STLINK-V3MINIE for STM32, Atmel-ICE kits and USB AVRISP XPII for AVR/SAM, MPLAB PICkit 4 for PIC, USBtinyISP and DFRobot's XSP for Arduino bootloader flashing.
- FPGA and CPLD work needs separate cables: Waveshare's Platform Cable USB for Xilinx, USB Blaster V2 for Altera, Seeed's DSJTAG 2-in-1 USB JTAG cable, and Bus Blaster v4 as the open JTAG option.
- The majority of the group is Waveshare-supplied Plastronics test and burn-in sockets — QFN8 08TN13S18060, QFN36 36QN50S16060 and many variants — plus QFN-to-DIP and SOP8-to-DIP programmer adapters. These are pre-soldering fixtures, not in-circuit debuggers.
