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ARM Newbie... Where To Start

Note: This was originally posted on 3rd October 2009 at http://forums.arm.com

Hello,

I'm absolutely a newbie for ARM. I've read many articles but couldn't get the point where to start.
ARM7,ARM9,ARM11,Cortex-M3,Cortex-A8... Which one should I start to learn? Most advanced or the basic one?
Which develepmont kit and which compiler you could advice for such a newbie? (I know only C as a programming language) Or alternatively, is an ARM simulator enough for the first steps? Which documents should I read? (a book or a document source on the internet like [url="http://infocenter.arm.com/help/index.jsp"]this[/url])
  • Note: This was originally posted on 12th October 2009 at http://forums.arm.com

    Thanks for your suggestions.
    If you are more interested in mircocontrollers, then I'd go for a M3.  It's not a core I've used much myself, but I've played with the Keil tools/boards in the past.  They were quite nice.

    Aren't they all microcontrollers? Is there any document in which I can find the point to decide which one best suits my needs? In fact, I have no specific aim to realise with ARM. I just want to take the first step successfully and not to give up triying because of a wrong selection.

    By the way, Zamer's proposal seems reasonable. Let's say I'm interested in Linux and decided to start with Cortex-A series. Isn't it harder to start with an upper class ARM family? If it is, I'm afraid to get demoralized because of first unsuccessful attempts.

    I need your advices.
    Respects..
  • Note: This was originally posted on 15th October 2009 at http://forums.arm.com

    Assume that I want to be able to work with all the applications that are listed in the ARM11 family. What should I do? Which one is better - introduce the ARM world with directly ARM11 family or lower-class families(ARM7 or ARM9...) to learn how to use ARM. Is there any significant difference with the code written for various ARM families? Let's say I get used to program ARM7; then how much effort needed to write another program for ARM9?
  • Note: This was originally posted on 4th October 2009 at http://forums.arm.com

    I suggest you to start with ARM7 means basic one.once you are though this it will be easy for you to jump on others. As far as compiler is concerned RVDS or ADS are good options to work with. yes, I think ARM simulator is sufficient for understanding architecture and assembly instruction set.

    regards,
    Zameer
  • Note: This was originally posted on 5th October 2009 at http://forums.arm.com

    It depends on what you see doing with it afterwards.

    If you are interested in things like Linux, then I'd you need one of the Cortex-A cores.  There are a couple of fairly cheap Cortex-A8 boards out there which are still quite powerful.  In many cases there are already Linux ports available and dedicated community forums/mailing lists.

    If you are more interested in mircocontrollers, then I'd go for a M3.  It's not a core I've used much myself, but I've played with the Keil tools/boards in the past.  They were quite nice.
  • Note: This was originally posted on 13th October 2009 at http://forums.arm.com

    Kind of depends.  Microcontroller is often used to mean smaller devices - such as the Cortex-M3.  Larger/more complex cores which can run a full OS (e.g. Linux) are often referred to as Application Cores. 

    In terms of ease of use, I think it really depends on what you want out of it.  If your interested in Linux app development, then using a board with a pre-existing Linux port should be relatively straight forward.  On the other hand, if your interested low level embedded coding then a Cortex-M3 MCU would be better.