Customer Reviews

HCS08 Unleashed: Designer's Guide To the HCS08 Microcontrollers

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is very complete and well thought out.
It covers most if not all of the many HCS08 processors.

This book explains all you would need to know to write in assembly, but is not a tutorial on assembly language (nor should it be). It has a review of "C" but is not a "C" tutorial either.

Having said that most of the many, many examples are written in "C", are available for download, and are actively maintained by the author. It is worth the cost just for the examples - many of which are explained in the text.

Module by module, each register is explained in detail, every bit. For the most part, you would not need to look at the specsheet when programming. This book is both a tutorial and a reference guide you will want to keep it on your desk when programing. I am very experienced with the HCS08, but I know this book will be at my side while I program, as I can't remember every detail. This book has many handy charts that are easier to find and use than in the spec sheet. For the few times I need to use assembly language, this book will be a great reference, as it document all the instructions. Instead of having to look in several places, this is an all in one reference.

It also explains in detail how to use Codewarrior and the debugger from Freescale, which can be downloaded for free. For about 50.00 USD, you could buy this book and demo a board and be ready for a great learning experience, professional or hobbyist.

After covering all the modules - system, clocking, communication, flash, low power and io it also has a section on projects examples and schematics are shown as well for building prototypes.

While a beginner would also need some other books to learn assembly language and "C", even a beginner would benefit from this book. Hardware engineers would also gain insight, as would professional software engineers and hobbyists.

Finally, the author monitors the Freescale forum, and will be happy to answer any question you may have. Errata is constantly being updated as well.

Plus it is at a great price.

Highly Recommended.

Excellent source of information.
Clear and concise. In depth analysis is excellent.
Thanks for this wonderful book.

I would like to see: CAN and LIN modules included.
Exercises/tutorials may improve future editions.

This book is really a very great reference.
In addition with the previous review (with which I totally agree), the huge number of examples/applications make it one of the best 8 bits microcontrollers book.

This book is a must have for anybody that develops or plans to develop applications using Freescale micro-controllers. I would recommend this book for both new and experienced developers. This book gives just the right amount of information required to use the HCS08 line and their built-in peripherals effectively. The HCS08 data-sheets, while well-written and thorough, describe the functions of the various registers and interrupts from a language agnostic point of view. This book goes the extra step of describing the compiler-specific techniques necessary to be able to take advantage of the processor using CodeWarrior and the HCS08 C compiler, including the compiler extensions required to fully use hardware interrupts and various memory addressing modes which are not immediately obvious even to experienced microcontroller software developers. I simply cannot overstate the value of these extra bits of information. Had I obtained this book a couple years ago, I would have saved myself many hours of scouring obscure bits of documentation scattered across the net while trying to integrate various peripheral devices.

On a side note, many of the techniques and concepts described in this book apply to Freescale's other micro-controllers as well. In general, if you're comfortable programming for the HCS08 line, you should have no problem developing for Freescale's S12 line, and vice-versa.

This is a good book to begin studying the programming of micro-controller units (MCUs). The author has a very good background that shows up in how many ways and details he provides. I also found it beneficial that he discusses the CodeWarrior compiler for the HC08.

Although nothing replaces the Freescale MC9S08XXXX MCU Series Reference Manual, this book is certainly very useful. Perhaps slightly more challenging for the raw beginner, it is definitely appropriate for the intermediate level user and even helpful to an expert. Mr. Pereira has done excellent work. His examples are instructive, and the numerous informational inserts concerning common errors and gotchas are particularly effective.

Kenelm McKinney
Staff Scientist
Custom One Design

The book is great for beginners and advanced Freescale programmers. It's very clear and innovative. I recommend it for every embbebed programmer.

This book is a valuable resource if you are going to do HCS08 programming. I'm in the middle of a project and between this book and the documentation, I now have what I need to programming the HC08. One thing that I like about the book, is that the author clearly describes in tables every pin and register, and the default values for every kind of HC08. He must have spent hours pouring through the docs and specs to gather this information. And now it's in a single book at the flip of a page. I say thanks to this author!

I recommend the simple but powerful proto-threads library for anything other than a very simple app.

At once I congratulate author Fábio Pereira, for the extraordinary and excellent work.
This book is going from the basic to the most advanced, excellent examples, excellent explanations, language of easy understanding, in other words, an outstanding book.
I am an engineer and I recommend this book to anybody, from students to engineers.

Ing. Marcelo Gobatto!