Advanced PIC Microcontroller Projects in C: From USB to RTOS with the PIC 18F Series [Paperback]

This book is well-written and is of the "something for everybody" variety.

Actually as I review the contents of the book, I realize how much ground was covered. There are a lot topics in this book that are directly on-target for a lot of practicing engineers.

As an example, in the last 12 months (before having this book at my fingertips, actually), I implemented USB, SD card functionality, CAN and an RTOS. All of these topics, and more, are covered in this single book.

I will say that the material is not covered in depth, and does seem to betray the "advanced" moniker in the title. The other ding on the book is that it is heavily geared towards the mikroC compiler, which is not very well-known or respected in the PIC community.

Chapter 1 covers the requisite "introduction to computers & microcontrollers" topics, such as number systems, memories, etc.. This will be review / skippable for most readers, but it's good that the author included it.

Chapter 2 is a good survey of the PIC18F. Sure, most of the information is in the datasheets, but here in the book it's digested/summarized, and in some cases, in my opinion, explained better than the Microchip documentation. Worth the read.

Chapter 3 covers the C programming language. I glossed over this chapter, since I've been using C for more than half of my life.

Chapters 4 and 5 cover the mikroC compiler, which is included with the book (limited version), as well as the libraries, development toolset & some sample code. Worth some time, especially if you're new to the toolset. If the author hadn't used this toolset, these chapters wouldn't be as necessary.

Chapter 6 starts with some simple projects. Blinking LEDs, serial communications, basic electronics.... well done but experienced readers will breeze through the material. "Advanced" does not apply to this chapter (its title says as much - "Simple PIC18 projects")

Chapter 7 is more advanced & covers the hardware & firmware aspects of implementing SD-card functionality on an embedded system. There is enough non-PIC-specific information to make this chapter alone worthwhile to anyone implementing SD, even with another microcontroller family. It discusses the SPI interface to the card and card read/write operations (using the mikroC toolset however.) I wish the author had developed more "bare-metal" code, however, as opposed to relying on mikroC libraries.

Chapter 8 covers USB. Again, the material is broad and will be useful to many people, even those not implementing USB with a PIC as is done in the book.

Chapter 9 covers CAN, which is becoming more & more prevalent. Not a substitute for reading the actual CAN specifications, but a very good survey of the topic. What I like about the book, in many of the chapters, simple schematics are provided. These schematics help bring the reader all the way down to the hardware in a gentle way. It's very important to understand this level of detail when developing an embedded sysem, and the author has clearly kept this in mind.

Chapter 10 discusses multi-tasking, RTOSs, state machines and a specific kernel from CCS. Most of the concepts are general & broad enough that they apply regardless of the reader's choice of kernel. A simple multitasking example ties everything together at the end of the book.

Altogether, a solid effort, aimed at beginner to junior embedded staff. The book's language is clear, the drawings are plentiful and the included development tools are enough to begin working & tinkering right away.

Just beware - if you're comfortable with a scope & the PIC family, there is not a lot of PIC material or code that will be entirely new to you. You might pick up some knowledge on USB, CAN, multi-tasking, etc... however.

Although there aren't any books related with C programming for the PIC18F family, I would not recommend this book. I expected a more serious and detailed approach of building a C project for these microcontrollers avoiding to use ready made C libraries of a specific compiler like microC. I would only recommend this book to novice programmers and especially to those owning the microC compiler. The term "advanced" does not fit in this book. I have found much more advanced topis and learned searching the Internet rather than having bought and read this book. It's a pitty but I was expecting a more vertical approach.

I pre-ordered this book 2 to 3 months before it came out. Based on the authors past work I figured he knew how to deliver. Didn't happen. Most of the books is reprint of the data sheet and microC syntax. The author teaches microC, and I was expected something a bit more main-stream, by page after page after page of syntax.

Then the author gets in to logn discussion about what GUI's and work environments one could use. A little is ok, even helpful but the author just continues to pad pages with very little useful content.

And finally, the first project is to... blink and LED. This is kind of the "Hello World" of microcontroller programing. However, this is an "Advanced" book. The next several projects are more of the same, LED, 7-Segment LEDs, and variaions. There is some stuff on LCDs too. However, the important details are burined in the microC code so you don't really learn how to use and LCD, PIC18F, in C code. The amount of work to port this over is huge.

Finanally some decent projects come up. However, they feel rushed. Poorly documented if one wanted to expand on them. The RTOS information goes no place useful. In the end, the author just gives you the tools to copy his work and very little more.

All and all I wish I could get my money back. -Lee

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