Doing some serious development on any ARM-based platform, and tired of 'printf' plus an LED to debug? A proper JTAG/SWD HW debugger can make debugging more of a pleasure and less of a pain. It allows you to program your devices at the click of a button, read or write memory addresses or registers on a live system, temporarily halt program execution at a given location or condition, and much more. Essentially, it's a direct window into what's going on inside your MCU at any given moment, giving you a level of access and control that's not easy to replicate with other debugging methods.

　　The J-LINK EDU Mini is a version of the J-Link EDU in a reduced form factor (18mm x 50mm – like a USB stick!) with identical functionality for Cortex-M based targets. We really love J-Links for programming our Cortex chips, they're durable and support every microcontroller we've bumped into. They're also often supported within the IDE's for chips for native debugging (e.g. Atmel Studio for when we're doing our ATSAMD development). The new Mini is bare-bones and very affordable! It is designed to allow students and educational facilities as well as hobbyists access to top of the line debug probe technology. It can do just about everything the 'big sister' J-Link EDU can do:

• Unlimited Breakpoints - The unlimited breakpoints in flash memory feature can be used free of charge for evaluation. The evaluation period is not time limited. For commercial use a separate license is required.
• Free Software Updates - As a legitimate owner of a SEGGER J-Link, you can always download the latest software free of charge. Though not planned and not likely, we reserve the right to change this policy. Note that older models may not be supported by newer versions of the software. Typically, we support older models with new software at least 3 years after end of life.
• Supports concurrent access to CPU by multiple applications - J-Link allows multiple applications to access a CPU at the same time. This has numerous applications. J-Link commander can be used in parallel to a debugger, a tool to communicate via DCC can be used in parallel to a debugger or a visualization tool such as Micrium's u/C-Probe or SEGGER's kernel viewer embOSView.
• Cross-platform support - Runs on Windows, Linux, Mac OS X. The MAC and Linux versions are fully usable, but limited to the following components: J-Link Commander, command line GDBServer, shared library (DLL-equivalent)
• Licensing and Support : J-Link EDU Mini may only be used for non-commercial purposes. J-Link EDU Mini does not include support.(However you may submit your question to the SEGGER Forum)

You may use the J-Link EDU for non profit educational purposes only! Non-profit educational purposes means that you may not use the J-Link EDU and its J-Link software.

• direct or indirect in or for a profit organization or business purposes or other undertaking intended for profit
• direct or indirect in any other commercial environment (e.g. office)
• to develop, debug, program or manufacturer a commercial product (or parts thereof)
• to use it to either earn money or reasonably anticipate the receipt of monetary gain from it.

What does this mean? Basically, if you're making money (or plan to make money) off your project, you'll need to order the full commercial version, or find a different debugger that suits your needs and budget better. But if you're working on personal, non-commercial projects, such as publishing some open source designs you're not selling yourself, you're good. You don't need to be a student, and you can even be a paid engineer during the week, using this on the weekend for personal non-commercial projects. As long are your intentions are non-commercial, the J-Link EDU is an excellent choice!

If you're going to use your debugger strictly for education or personal, non-commercial projects, such as publishing open source designs that you're not selling, then you should get this EDU Mini (or the standard EDU) version!

We do have the commercial version of the J-Link – please support SEGGER's quality engineering and respect their generosity by purchasing the professional/commercial version of the J-Link; it's still a great deal!

Please note this kit comes with a 20-pin (2x10) 0.05" cable, but most SWD programmable devices want a 2x5 cable which is sold separately!