Re: microcontroller programming -- how to begin

In article <Nc1eg.2431$8e2.214@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
mc <look@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hmmm, at first sight AVR didn't particularly look like 8051 to me. Can
Nico
elaborate?

They look quite alike:

They are both little chips with a bunch of legs around the outside.

On chip stuff is controlled by writes into a special section of the
address space.

They have 8 bit registers.

Seperate code vs data address spaces

So they have a Harvard architecture. Does that distinguish them from PIC or
a bunch of others?

No, it doesn't, but does make it like the 8051 which was the question.



More to the point... What are the DISadvantages of AVR compared to other
architectures?

The only real ones are that AVRs are a single makers product and that
there is less free stuff out there for it.

Right; or more free stuff depending on your point of view.

No, simply more.

Single-maker
chips are very attentively supported by their makers.

OH! BOY! is that ever BS! Examples:

Philips' and then Xilinx's support for the 5V Cool Runner series.

Almost any single supplyer's low power CMOS RAM.

Intel's 8089

I'm sure every designer that has been around for a while has a horror
story or two about the lack of support for a single maker's product.


There's a lot of free
8051 stuff but it is old and DOS-based (as far as I know).

Does it work? Yes.
Is some of it have a point a drool UI? Yes again.
Is there a lot of free stuff? Yes.


--
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kensmith@xxxxxxxxx forging knowledge

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