I'm a little younger but have learned to program my Commodore Vic20 in 
your same way.
Only with the Basic manual and a book on assember.
And for every new pic I use, I read the datasheet.
I was wrong on the 12F510 just because (never used and never read his 
datasheet) i read in a hurry only the first page where i found FSR...
I'm sorry for my mistake, David.
Cheers
      Nicola

Olin Lathrop wrote:
> Apptech wrote:
>   
>> It's very very very hard for an expert
>> to realise how very very hard some "utterly trivial" matters
>> can seem.
>>     
>
> Those of us who know this stuff all learned it at some point.  And us old
> farts had to do that without the internet with its enourmous library and
> world wide experts to answer questions.  As a result, we had to sit down and
> actually *think* about a problem and maybe experiment instead of blurting
> out a question the moment we got stuck.
>
> Now don't get me wrong.  I think the internet can be a great learning tool
> and should be used as such, but a infinite amount of immediately available
> information is not in itself a teacher.  In fact, it can sometimes prevent
> or delay true learning because it's too easy to just look up a answer when
> needed.  That gets you the answer, but it doesn't mean you have learned the
> principles to come up the answer yourself next time.
>
> All too often today's students try to short cut their assignments by asking
> for answers at the first sign of trouble.  They seem to have forgotten the
> purpose of the assignment is not the end result, but the process which is
> intended to foster learning.
>
> Maybe a basic introduction to microcontrollers would have some value, but
> there is plenty of existing material out there.  The PIC datasheets are
> actually a very good source since they tell you what you need to know and
> are well written.
>
> My first introduction to the subject was when my high school got a PDP-8
> (sortof a 12 bit PIC in a rack mounted box) my junior year.  I had only
> interacted with computers via Basic and Fortran before.  I took the manual
> home over spring vacation and figured I'd learn this computer's language.
> What I found was totally different than expected.  I hadn't thought about a
> computer at the instruction level before.  There was this huge gap between
> Basic code and these instructions to the point where I couldn't even see how
> the two related.  I remember wondering how I missed the multiply and divide
> instructions because I knew I could multiply and divide in Basic.  Then I
> got to some example code that implemented a multiply, and it slowly started
> to make sense.
>
> I probably read the two books three times each during that week, each time
> filling in information that was so out of context in the previous pass that
> it didn't make any sense then.  By the time school started again, I could
> toggle in simple programs and had a reasonable understanding what was going
> on.  When I got stuck, I had to figure it out.  None of the teachers knew
> any of this stuff.  There was nobody else to ask.  I had no choice but to
> sit down and actually learn it.
>
> The point is, all the information was in the two manuals, just like all the
> similar information is in a PIC datasheet.  All it takes is motivation and
> some effort.  I did it with the equivalent of a PIC manual in one week in
> 1973 with no internet and nobody to ask, not even the computer to experiment
> with until I'd read the manuals three times.
>
> So no, I don't have much tolerance for someone whining about how the PIC
> manuals are so hard, especially when the vast library of the internet, the
> PIC simulator, and the PICs themselves are readily available.  I have no
> problem helping someone when they get stuck, but they have to have tried to
> do their own homework first.
>
> Frankly, the ones that can't be bothered aren't worth the bother anyway.
> Those that have a true passion for electronics and microcontrollers are
> going to preservere, and will be better off for having put in their own
> effort.  Those that don't have the passion will only ever be mediocre
> engineers at best, and would be better off finding something else to do.
>
> By the way, I still have one of the two book, the DEC "Small Computers
> Handbook".
>
>
> ********************************************************************
> Embed Inc, Littleton Massachusetts, http://www.embedinc.com/products
> (978) 742-9014.  Gold level PIC consultants since 2000.
>   

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