Which uController to learn?
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From: Anthony Fremont on 16 Mar 2007 06:03 John E. wrote: >> I'm prejudiced against the PIC because bank switching is Evil. > > I'm beginning to hear a lot of that (c; Since you're starting, the 18F PICs may be more in line with what you want. Not even any bank switching till you're ready for it. Plus Microchip has a decent C compiler for them (I never used it, but that's what I keep hearing) that has something like a 90 day trial. After the trial, uninstall and reinstall. www.picbook.com is a good treatise on the 18F PICs. Don't let anyone fool you, all microcontrollers have their quirks and problems. IMO, the 8052 is the pits. > >> As a hobbyist: 6502, 6800/02/09, Z80; as a pro, 68HC11, Z80, 80186 >> ;-) > > I think I should clarify that my desire isn't to go in the direction > of microprocessors, but in the direction of microcontrollers. I > distinguish those that have data and memory bus pins from those that > are self-sufficient, memorywise. The latter may have I/O such as > analog inputs and/or outputs, but not necessarily; they may interface > with outboard converters. You won't regret it.
From: Tim Wescott on 16 Mar 2007 11:15 John E. wrote: > PIC is king, I'm sure. But I'd like to hear from those who are using all > brands. Whichever you use, what do you like about it? What don't you like > about others? Suggestions re. learning? > > I've programmed 68000 assembly and some higher-level languages (FORTRAN; some > BASIC; COBOL if forced to admit it), so no stranger to programming, per se. > After you've selected your second or third new microprocessor and made it work you'll realize that time spent learning the quirks of a new processor is less than time spent working around the deficiencies of an old one. For each new application I look at what the application demands, which usually boils down to processor speed, peripherals, the available pin drive power, and the capabilities of the on-board EEPROM and flash. Then if one of the micros that I'm already familiar with works I use it -- otherwise I select a new one. I will mention that for most microprocessors the verb is "use", but for PIC it's "suck it up and use" -- Microchip does a sterling job with peripherals, pin drive and features, but gawd I hate their architecture. -- Tim Wescott Wescott Design Services http://www.wescottdesign.com Posting from Google? See http://cfaj.freeshell.org/google/ "Applied Control Theory for Embedded Systems" came out in April. See details at http://www.wescottdesign.com/actfes/actfes.html
From: John E. on 16 Mar 2007 13:18 > I will mention that for most microprocessors the verb is "use", but for > PIC it's "suck it up and use" -- Microchip does a sterling job with > peripherals, pin drive and features, but gawd I hate their architecture. There's a pattern developing in this thread... -- John English
From: John E. on 16 Mar 2007 13:28 > I will mention that for most microprocessors the verb is "use", but for > PIC it's "suck it up and use" -- Microchip does a sterling job with > peripherals, pin drive and features, but gawd I hate their architecture. Which just *begs* the question: whose architecture do you consider to be the antithesis of the PIC's? (ie, less obtuse, resulting in your being more productive?) -- John English
From: john jardine on 15 Mar 2007 19:43
"martin griffith" <mart_in_medina(a)ya___.es> wrote in message news:h0ijv2h8vq2u0nd8s0ntp9npi9bbo2p60i(a)4ax.com... > On Thu, 15 Mar 2007 15:11:02 -0700, in sci.electronics.design John E. > <incognito(a)yahoo.com> wrote: > > >Thanks for your comments, Martin. > > > >> And be sure to practice your soldering skills/ interfacing techniques, > >> this is very important compared with the Windoze World > > > >That's really why I'm interested in getting into the u-controller world. To > >interface hardware to the "real world". > > > >Soldering iron warmed up and at the ready... > > <sticking neck out> > checkout: > SPI interface, (realtime clocks, external eeproms etc.) > I2C, the uberversal philips interface, same as SPI, but different, and > pain in the neck IMHO > logic fets > H bridge > opto isolators > Reset and brownout detectors/ TL77xx etc from TI > > and the universal "why doesn't my 2*8 LCD work" > Cos it takes many milliseconds to initialise, check the Fuckin* busy > flag > > </sticking neck out> > > and get a decent bench/lab power supply with adjustable current > limiting, and a scope > > > martin And the 1 by 16 LCD, is electrically still a 2 by 8. -- Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com |