Embedded C [Paperback]

Michael J Pont (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 020179523X | ISBN-13: 978-0201795233 | Publication Date: May 4, 2002

For people who are about to write their first embedded program - or have been struggling to learn about this important area - this book will save weeks of effort.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

It's been suggested that there are now as many embedded systems in everyday use as there are people on planet Earth. Domestic appliances from washing machines to TVs, video recorders and mobile phones, now include at least one embedded processor. They are also vital components in a huge variety of automotive, medical, aerospace and military systems. As a result, there is strong demand for programmers with 'embedded' skills, and many desktop developers are moving into this area.

Embedded C is designed for programmers with desktop experience in C, C++ or Java who want to learn the skills required for the unique challenges of embedded systems.

The book and CD-ROM include the following key features:

• The Keil hardware simulator for the popular 8051 microcontroller is on the CD-ROM so that readers can try out examples from the book - and create new ones - without requiring additional hardware.
• All code is written in C, so no assembly language is required. industry-standard C compiler from Keil software is included on the CD-ROM, along with copies of code examples from the book to get you up and running very quickly.
• Key techniques required in all embedded systems are covered in detail, including the control of port pins and the reading of switches.

A complete embedded operating system is presented, with full source code on the CD-ROM.

020179523XB03292002

About the Author

Michael Pont is an experienced software engineer, and began his first embedded project in 1986. Since then he has lectured and carried out research at the University of Sheffield and the University of Leicester, and has provided consultancy and training services to a range of international companies. He is the author of two previous books "Patterns for Time-Triggered Embedded Systems" and "Software Engineering with C++ and CASE tools".

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional (May 4, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 020179523X
• ISBN-13: 978-0201795233
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #760,088 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #89 in Books > Computers & Technology > Hardware > Microprocessors & System Design > Embedded Systems

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good introductory book for embedded programming in C., June 26, 2002

By 

Anton Hristozov (Pittsburgh, PA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Embedded C (Paperback)

I believe the real title of this book is more like "Introduction to embedded systems programming and software design with 8051 using C". Most of the C and C++ programmers will not find anything more about the C language they do not already know. The author claims that the target audience is desktop developers with C++ and Java programming. Probably this involves a portion of this programming crowd, who have not done any low level programming and are relying on existing libraries or have very little experience. One obvious advantage of the book is its clear style. The touch of many important topics and well selected examples from very small to a decent size projects is another plus. Selecting a well known microcontroller flavor (Intel 8051) is a plus, for the specific points that could be illustrated when one has to use such a cheap and not very powerful device for a project. The choice to demonstrate the examples with the Keil development environment makes it very convenient for the reader to follow the text. For the experienced embedded programmer most topics are pretty well known and they may find the style very easy and not so rich in new information. For example interrupts are not discussed until chapter 7 and the book has 4 more chapters. The users of bigger microcontrollers ,16 and 32 bit, may find that the code does not cover some of the more complex issues they have to face in their software designs. I am mostly refering to the developers creating code for Motorola 32 bit and the ARM family. Looking forward for the forthcoming book "Embedded Operating Systems" from the same author due for publication Jan, 2004.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Introduction to Keil's C51 Compiler, April 2, 2004

By 

Soon Yau Cheong (Malaysia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Embedded C (Paperback)

This is a good introduction to Keil's C51 compiler. I have 1 year experience writing PIC code using CCS C compiler. My latest project is to develope 8051 microcontroller firmware using Keil's C Compiler. The documentation provided by Keil is limited and confusing, not a good one to beginner.

"Embedded C" is definitely a rather good introductory book to Keil's C51 compiler. It is suitable to reader who already has knowledge of C programming. In this book, some special features and instructions are explained, such as sbit and the I/0 pin (which bother me the most in the beginning stage, as 8051 I/O is different from PIC and Motorola).

Furthermore, the author also introduce the Real Time Concept, RS232 etc which differ the Embedded C with the desktop C. This is especially useful to beginner of embedded programming.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Helpful, December 16, 2005

By 

Matt Long "Matt Long" (Colorado Springs, CO United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Embedded C (Paperback)

As a desktop applications programmer this was a good introduction to the embedded world for me. Whenever I try to learn some new technology, there always tends to be a knowledge gap that needs bridged. Once it has been, I am able to start using whatever that technology is. I feel this book is my bridge for learning to write code for embedded systems.

When I first bought the book, I would just try to read it from chapter to chaper starting with chapter one. I've started to read it several times. This method, I now realize, was a mistake as there is some terminology that doesn't make sense even to a seasoned programmer such as myself. Embedded systems are quite different from building applications for an operating system running on a robust microprocessor.

I found that what I should have done from the start was to install the demo compiler from Keil and the project examples. Once I did this, the book really started to come to life as I could step through the code with the debugger and see what was really going on. I got through the first four chapters with a strong understanding in the very first evening I did this.

The book seems to do a good job of covering all of the main topics you would want to know about. It is not short on examples which is a great feature. I, do, however, have a single complaint. In chapter 5, Pont talks about code organization. Now, while I feel that this is a reasonable things to learn, for someone who is just getting started with embedded programming it would have been better to save that as a bonus chapter at the end and instead let all of the preceeding chapters contain everything in a single file. I'm not suggesting that it's a bad idea to organize your code. I'm simply stating that I was able to understand the first four chapters much quicker because I didn't have to jump around from file to file to figure out where a certain function or variable had been declared. Some might complain that keeping all of the code in a single file would create "spaghetti" code, however, for learning purposes, I feel this is a reasonable trade-off. Not to mention, the code examples are not terribly long.

In the end this book has been really great. The prose Pont uses is very approachable and he does a good job (especially at the beginning) to explain what is happening in the code. I definitely recommend this book and the 8051 is a great choice of processor. There is a lot of sample code on the web and it is a very well documented MCU. Plus the tools for development using this chip are very inexpensive as are the chips themselves.