PicForum

I'm a complete beginner with PIC microcontrollers, and I'm trying to get started with the PIC16F877A. I've been reading about different IDEs and compilers, but I'm a bit overwhelmed by all the options. I'm looking for something that's relatively easy to learn, has good debugging features, and ideally, is either free or has a reasonably priced hobbyist license. I've seen MPLAB X IDE mentioned a lot, but also alternatives like mikroC and Code Composer Studio. What would you recommend for a newbie like me? Any tips or resources to get started would be greatly appreciated!.

Are you sure you want to start with a PIC16F877A ?
That chip is over 24 years old, and there are much better, cheaper, more powerful alternative PIC16F devices available now.
The MPLABX IDE and XC8 compiler are free, but you will need a programmer to burn programs into the PIC.

You can pick up a complete development board for a PIC16F18877 for USD$19, and it has an embedded programmer built into it!
https://www.microchip.com/en-us/develop ... l/DM164142