I have a pickit 2 with 16f690, and now I've just got some 16f877's and 16f876's, I would like to know if the programmer is going to suffice, rather than buy a new programmer. Obviously the demo board is redundant. The programmer has a 6 pin header which seems standard, but if I rig up a demoboard with the relevant connections, is it likely to work?
As Rajudp just said the PK2 will program virtually all Pic chips so no problem there.
If you do make up your own lead from the Pk2 to a new dev board just keep the cable length under 200mm to avoid signal loss problems.
Why..?? - just unplug the 690 chip, its got the prototyping area where you could mount the 876 chip or use the 14 pin expansion header to connect in a sub board for the 877 40 pin chip, then you have the switches and leds available.
Don't forget that unlike the 690 the 876 and 877 chips do not have an internal oscillator so you will need a crystal and caps for them , 4mhz and 22pf is a popular choice.