Hello all,
I have been programming the 8051 chip using assembly for small programs and applications such as A to D converter, alarm clock, etc. In which I have learned that it is a great pain to do more complicated projects with assembly, as the number of lines of codes get larger and harder to track.
I have downloaded the uVision 4 C complier to try to replace assembly, but I'm having difficulties learning how to use it. I have had C/C++ programming before, but I must admit it has been a while since I used it.
Are there any tutorials on programming the 8051 using C?
Also, I have been trying to duplicate my counter project (counting from 0 to 99 using assembly code) with C. I have it count from 0 to 9, but I could not figure out how to do decimal adjust using C. Any idea? In assembly the code is simply DA
Thanks all, Woozie
I mainly used a language reference manual (definitions, not attempts at sample code) and lots and lots of downloaded examples when learning C.
Since it wasn't embedded programming, I looked for really large programs. If they were easy to understand, I tried to duplicate the constructs and way of writing. If they where not easy to read, I ignored the style but looked for intresting constructs.
Reading code is a very good way to learn. But it takes lots of code, until our pattern-matching brain starts to be able to detect and categorize what is good and what isn't good.
One bad thing with books is that lots of book authors don't seem to be good programmers. They know how to produce many pages of text, but can't present elegant code. And are so focused on describing a specific keyword or specific function call that they write "simplified" code that doesn't really do anything. All the time missing all the extras needed for use in an commercial-grade environment.
I have this C/C++ pocket reference with definitions of syntax and examples. I could probably do this counter in just C/C++ without any problem. My biggest problem is understanding how to use C/C++ to program the micro controller to do what I wanted to do. Which I learned I needed 8051 headers, and from the way it looks, it seems like the header is a file with all the 8051 registers declared into C variables per the addresses. Hence why I tried to use ACC to do my counter calculation like I did with embedded. But since I can't use ACC directly, I wonder why it is in the header file. Something I need to do some study on.
As for classes, they can only teach so much. I have not yet taken a class where they teaches me how to program in C to interact with micro controller. Neither are books available.. Anyone knows? Any recommendations?
I tried to use ACC to do my counter calculation like I did with embedded. But since I can't use ACC directly, I wonder why it is in the header file.
For writing in-line assembly.
Jon
So what's all this, then: http://www.keil.com/books
"Neither are books available."
there are so many (too many?) of them out there.
but that's 2ndary. programming a micro controller is no different from programming a regular pc/large computer in that you need to have thought out a structure to your code (aka how are you going to have the computer solve a problem?), and then program individual pieces to actually achieve that goal.
the distinction here is that with a mcu, you are communicating with the outside world solely with their pins: you create certain patterns on those pins, across time or across multiple pins.
it is that simple - that's why embedded programmers don't make much money.