The 8051 Microcontroller, 3rd Edition 3rd Edition

The book is very informative. Some parts are easier to read than others. This was a required text for my BMET program. Not something I see myself using a whole lot. It does have its interesting values but also its boring ones too. I wish the book had more descriptive program examples from start to finish. It doesn't mesh completely with our Rigel program but it has been plenty helpful. It just takes me longer to figure it out. I blame most of the misunderstanding on the user. I feel this is an easier read for someone who enjoys programming.

This book works as both as a method of learning the 8051 and as reference. As a learning tool, it is demanding of the reader. However I found it to be always accurate and clearly written. The first chapter, "Microprocessors and Microcontrollers," though interesting, can probably be skipped by seasoned embedded developers. The second chapter, "Numbering Systems And Binary Arithmetic," actually proved to be a useful review. The remaining chapters provide a very good description of the chip architecture and its assembly language. There are 6 appendices that will probably be useful to any 8051 developer.

Mr Ayala was my electronics professor and advisor in college and this book was core to what we learned the semester he wrote the first edition. It's an excellent resource if you want to learn about everything from what's happening inside of microprocessors all the way to Assembly Language.

100% recommended