Hi friends, ( and Jesse too ) I was tempted to criticize also mr. Predko for some ( small )mistakes founded in his book ( actually in the chapters he had amiability to show us for free in his nice site ). I am assure you is much difficult to write an error free technical book than to read it and found mistakes, right now I'm in the same posture as a writer is... So please, don't blame too much someone who has written an 1200 pages technically book, with programs, PIC programators, basic compilers and so on. My bitterness is just I can't read this book from the begining to the end. best regards, Vasile Surducan, senior researcher INCDTIM Romania http://www.geocities.com/vsurducan On Tue, 7 May 2002, myke predko wrote: > Hi Jesse, > > Sorry, I've been lurking a bit (lots of other things going on). > > The first printing of "Programming and Customizing PICmicro(R) > Microcontrollers" 2nd edition did have a lot of errors due to problems with > the editing process. All the problems should have been resolved with the > current printings of the book. > > I'm curious to know what are the three errors in the code on page 236? I am > aware of one (a typo, "TCSTA" instead of "RCSTA" on the 7th line), but I > don't know about the other two. > > myke > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Jesse Lackey" > To: > Sent: Saturday, March 23, 2002 9:42 PM > Subject: Re: [PIC]: Please help rookie with these two questions > > > > I have to disagree with the Predko book recommendation, I've been using > > it extensively and I have found it *rife* with errors. I just spent the > > last 2 hours trying to get serial port receive working, and the simple > > sample code on page 236 (11 lines of code) has no less than THREE errors > > in it. Look it up on amazon.com and read the reviews submitted by > > readers before you buy. > > > > The most important thing for tech books is to be CORRECT. You simply > > cannot trust any of the code you see in this book. 1 in 10 or more > > examples will not work due to typos (half the time) and logic/missing > > code the other half. You wind up scratching your head, getting rather > > frustrated that something simple doesn't work, checking stuff with a > > logic probe, reading microchip .pdf spec sheets, and then fixing his code. > > > > jesse > > > > > > Shawn Mulligan wrote: > > > I agree that the 16F84 is an excellent chip to begin with. It comes in a > > > small package which fits nicely on a prototype board. It is very well > > > supported and easy to use. Programmers can be built easily by a > beginner, > > > using very few components. Realistically, for $50 - $100 you could > purchase > > > a couple of PICs, an LCD, keypad, LED's, support components and a few > good > > > books. I would recommend Easy PIC'n and PIC'n Up the Pace. After you > gain > > > some experience you might try Myke Predko book -- it's excellent to, yet > it > > > may be too advanced for the absolute beginner. With a degree in computer > > > science, I find some of Myke's algorithms and approaches quite clever, > yet > > > certainly not intuitive. The Easy PIC'n series doesn't attempt to > optimize > > > code size or efficiency at the expense of clarity -- however > successfully > > > manages to present many interesting projects and tutorials. That's my > two > > > cents worth. > > > Shawn > > > > > > > > >> From: Pic Dude > > >> Reply-To: pic microcontroller discussion list > > >> To: PICLIST@MITVMA.MIT.EDU > > >> Subject: Re: [PIC]: Please help rookie with these two questions > > >> Date: Sat, 23 Mar 2002 15:31:31 -0600 > > >> > > >> A slightly different perspective... > > >> > > >> As a rookie myself, I believe that the 16F84 is a great chip to > > >> start with, because there are lots of sample projects/code out on > > >> the web to pick things up quickly. You can just copy, compile > > >> and test, then experiment with the code. At a few bucks each, > > >> cost isn't much of a factor. > > >> > > >> And if they're becoming obsolete, then perhaps they're less > > >> than a few bucks now? > > >> > > >> Get a very simple 16F84 programmer or get one that will handle > > >> 16F84 + others you think you will need. I built a simple Tait > > >> programmer and there was a simple wiring difference to handle > > >> the 16F872's when I started playing with those. > > >> > > >> Good beginning info and books... > > >> http://www.piclist.com/techref/piclist/begin.htm > > >> > > >> Cheers, > > >> -Neil. > > >> > > >> > > >> ----- Original Message ----- > > >> From: "Byron A Jeff" > > >> To: > > >> Sent: Saturday, March 23, 2002 2:23 PM > > >> Subject: Re: [PIC]: Please help rookie with these two questions > > >> > > >> > > >> > On Sat, Mar 23, 2002 at 02:01:45PM -0500, Jim Martin wrote: > > >> > > First: What beginner's book do you recommend for entry level PIC > > >> > > programming for the 16F84? > > >> > > > >> > It's best to skip the 16F84. Microchip has pretty much succeeded in > > >> obsoleting > > >> > it with the features and price of the 16F627 and 16F628 chips. It's > > >> better > > >> > to start there. > > >> > > > >> > I don't have a book recommendation for you unfortunately. There are > any > > >> number > > >> > of online tutorials that'll get you started. I'm partial to Myke > > >> Predko's > > >> > online stuff. You can find a couple of introductory articles here: > > >> > > > >> > http://www.rentron.com/Myke3.htm > > >> > http://www.rentron.com/Myke5.htm > > >> > > > >> > There are also several dozen other PIC related articles on the site > > >> here: > > >> > > > >> > http://www.rentron.com/pic.htm > > >> > > > >> > I'd like to add a couple of comments related to the 16F84 to 16F627/8 > > >> upgrade. > > >> > First is that if the application isn't time sensitive (such as an > > >> asyncronous > > >> > serial interface) that the internal RC oscillator of the 16F627/8 > > >> preludes > > >> > having to use an external oscillator or resonator. Next is that one > > >> must > > >> be > > >> > acutely aware that one of the best new features of the 16F627/8 is > the > > >> onboard > > >> > hardware USART. This means that one doesn't have to implement > software > > >> UARTs > > >> > by hand. I find that a lot of 16F84 tutorials spend a lot of time > > >> discussing > > >> > how to build software serial routines for RS-232. The next thing is > > >> that > > >> > the 16F627/8 family along with the 16F87X family are low voltage > > >> programmable > > >> > so very cheap and simple programmers can be utilized to get started > > >> quickly. > > >> > My Trivial Low Voltage Programmer (TLVP) is a $10, afternoon project > > >> that'll > > >> > get you in the game quickly. Last on my list is that for programming > > >> hardware > > >> > USART the best software/tutorial going is Fr. Thomas McGahee's > PICUART > > >> code. > > >> > I've seen problems dowloading it from his site > > >> (http://mcgahee.freeservers.com) > > >> > so I've made a copy available from my PIC site where the TLVP lives: > > >> > > > >> > http://www.finitesite.com/d3jsys > > >> > > > >> > Also you can find a description os Myke's book "Programming and > > >> Customizing > > >> > PICmicro Microcontrollers" on his site at http://www.myke.com where > he > > >> has > > >> > a online chapter for your perusal. > > >> > > > >> > > > > >> > > Second: Is the 16F876 code-compatible with the 16F84? Just > > >> wondering > > >> if I > > >> > > should start with the '876 instead of the F84. > > >> > > > >> > I think you can pretty much get a consensus not to start with the > > >> 16F84. > > >> Yes > > >> > the 16F87X series is code compatible with the 16F84 and will port > over > > >> with > > >> > a very few caveats such as variable starting address and that PORTA > > >> starts > > >> > in analog mode instead of digital mode. > > >> > > > >> > But starting with the 16F84 means playing catchup later. There's much > > >> less > > >> of > > >> > a jump from the 16F62X family to the 16F87X chips. > > >> > > > >> > Hope this gives you some insight. > > >> > > > >> > BAJ > > >> > > > >> > -- > > >> > http://www.piclist.com hint: PICList Posts must start with ONE topic: > > >> > [PIC]:,[SX]:,[AVR]: ->uP ONLY! [EE]:,[OT]: ->Other [BUY]:,[AD]: ->Ads > > >> > > > >> > > > >> > > > >> > > >> -- > > >> http://www.piclist.com hint: PICList Posts must start with ONE topic: > > >> [PIC]:,[SX]:,[AVR]: ->uP ONLY! [EE]:,[OT]: ->Other [BUY]:,[AD]: ->Ads > > >> > > >> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > _________________________________________________________________ > > > Join the world s largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. > > > http://www.hotmail.com > > > > > > -- > > > http://www.piclist.com hint: PICList Posts must start with ONE topic: > > > [PIC]:,[SX]:,[AVR]: ->uP ONLY! [EE]:,[OT]: ->Other [BUY]:,[AD]: ->Ads > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > > Bill Gates is a CROOK and *millions* of tax dollars have been spent > > prosecuting and convicting Microsoft of illegal business practices. Do > > not give them another dime until they have repaid the US government > > these costs. > > > > -- > > http://www.piclist.com hint: PICList Posts must start with ONE topic: > > [PIC]:,[SX]:,[AVR]: ->uP ONLY! 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