Customer Reviews

Programming and Customizing the 8051 Microcontroller (Tab Electronics Technician Library)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This book explains the architecture of the 8051 microcontroller in a structured manner with plenty of good diagrams to clarify. There are many examples of how the 8051 may by interfaced to various common (and some more unusual) external devices. Each example discusses the relevant issues from both a hardware and a software viewpoint.

The author has taken time to ensure that all of the items necessary to get your first 8051 project up & running are included. For example, there is a circuit which shows how to make up simple power supply unit for an 8051 and details of how to reliably reset the device.

I especially liked the fact that the popular I2C and CAN busses were covered and that an example of a simple Real Time Op System was built up from first principles.

The appendix lists many contact points where a reader can find out more about the 8051, some frequently used software routines, a discussion of the popular simmstick format and other handy resources.

The accompanying CD ROM containes a demo copy of the popular UMPS assembler/debug environment as well as data sheets for many of the devices used in the book.

I'd recommend this book to anyone who has thought about using a microcontroller device, but hasn't had the necessary hardware and/or software know-how to get started. It would also be a good reference volume and source of new ideas for existing 8051 users.

I tried to like this book, but on the outside it makes it seem like the book is for a pure beginner. He has projects in the book that make you want to jump to the back of the book. After I read page after page, it seems like you should have some sort of experience with a microcontroller before reading this book. I need a book that will show me wire by wire how to hook these things up. He starts off with talking about different arcutectures, theory, and showing you plenty of diagrams and graphs of how memory and data is thrown around the controller but it was too much for me. I gave up after the software programming part where you start to use UMPS. Again, if you are looking for a book to start you off in the world of micros, I suggest you start somewhere else. This book is for someone who has atleast programmed one other type of controller, and KNOWS C programming language, and just needs a book to get aquainted with 8051. He tells you that on page xvii.I rated it a 3-star because of the links and indepth coverage of the 8051 itself and the large amount of graphs, links, and illustrations.

I dont know who actually writes reviews. At least one I can identify from the company Virtual Machine design, the company that sells the integrated development environment UMPS , where Myke Predko is so fond about, and recommends throughout its book. I am only halfway the book, but I have this very strong feeling its a waste of time.It is written in a proza way, just like it pops up in the mind of the author. Skip half the book and read the "old" intel datasheet on 8051 for free.The intel datasheet is an excellent example of clear technical writing. I rate this book only one star to get the average ranking down, just as others try to get the ranking up. fair is fair.

Oh, he may know his business, but I never got far enough into the book to find out. It was downright painful to have to contend with the lack of copy editing that showed up with singular/plural confusion, past/present confusion, people "who's backgrounds" and other spelling confusion, and other garbage. Our language is called English, and most publishers can afford a copy editor.

On top of that, and particularly painful, was a hilarious misunderstanding of the history of the von Neumann architecture for computers, about which he apparently has only a smattering of confused hearsay---possibly a dimly remembered class. He has it begin in a competition between Harvard and Princeton Universities (actually Princeton University had absolutely nothing to do with it, nor did Harvard) to improve naval artillery (pure fiction), a project of which a man named von Neumann was chief scientist. In fact (I was there) von Neumann was one of the world's greatest mathematicians (not a functionary running a minor Navy program), the project was at the Institute for Advanced Study (which is housed in the town of Princeton, but has nothing to do with the University), and the work there was aimed at weather forecasting. I won't even touch his confusion about the architecture itself. None of this disqualifies him as an 8051 guru, but it sure does detract from his credibility. I found I just couldn't go on.

I found the book disappointing because key sections are poorly explained, and the overall poor writiting style, and too diluted technical info.

A very critical aspect of learning the 8051 is understanding the instruction set. The author included a fairly large graphic with each instruction that turns out to be a big waste of space because he never explains the graphic well. Luckily, the instruction usage can still be deciphered from his limited verbiage.

In addition, the technical info on each page is diluted with non-essential side information that should have mostly been omitted. This is compounded by his overly wordy and disorganized approach to most topics.

This book covers many aspects of the MCU design and interface issues. Both hardware and software have been touched, however, many of them have not been treated to a sufficient level. It would be better to address less issues and but explain them clearly.

First off, a book should never be written in the first person. "I wrote this program...", "I did this better..", etc., etc. This guy loves to blow his own horn. More "I"s in this book than in a dark alley peep show. Very annoying to read with all of the "I"s and other bad grammar.

Second, if someone is new to the 8051 architecture this book is not for them. The author does a bad job of explaining many simple concepts, especially the 8051 memory layout. His diagrams and explanations are illogical and down right confusing. And when it came to more advanced topics such as serial IO via interrupts, hardly a peep of good information or examples.

There are many good books on 8051/8052 micro-controllers and this is definitely not one of them.

The author give me an impression that he just started to learn about 8051 right before starting to write this book.
In this book, it is not much explanation on the hardware features. Being able to connect to external memory is one of the biggest strength of 8051. Surprisingly, the author failed to eleborate on it. His book on PIC is a great book. However, I think he treats 8051 as PIC, which is not the objective of the 8051 book. The projects included in this book are more like PIC project, where small memory, I/O circuit is needed.

However, the programming portion in this book gives rather simple and not bad explanation to assembly language beginner like me. I think that is the only useful part in this book.

This book is so poorly written it's agonizing to read. Instead of trying to grasp the intricacies of the 8051, I find myself correcting poorly worded and badly structured sentences. It seems as though it slipped through the editing process and went directly to print. If all of the nonsense drivel were eliminated, the book would be half as thick and probably make more sense. It's as amateurish as a paper describing a high school science-fair project. I don't think I could recommend this book to anyone. I definitely wouldn't recommend it for beginners. And, if a well-seasoned designer wanted to learn how to implement the 8051 into his/her next project, this book is an entire waste of time.

My neighbors son purchased this book as an intro to the 8051, and then let me read it. I was not impressed. The organization of this book is poor. The examples shallow. It contains a few of the authors pet projects, but little else of substance. It provides enough information to make the instant satisfaction crowd feel they have learned something, but those of us who make our livings writing 8051 applications will tell you that if you want to learn, REALLY LEARN, about the 8051, find a good college level textboox, and work through the chapters. Amazon sells several good choices. Ask your local College for a recommendation.