Embedded programming ... very beginning [closed]

Question

I am looking to start from scratch to learn to program embedded systems. After some time looking around I found myself a bit confused.

I can program both C and C++ but I just don't know where to start with embedded programming, should I buy some kind of device to practice on, use a microprocessor emulator (if so, which one?) - stuff like that, any advice or resource on where to start is very welcome.

Answer 1

In my opinion, skip Arduino. I've always seen it as kind of a dumbed down system for non-programmers. Go for something that lets you apply your C knowledge to getting as low level as possible, at first. You want to understand how interrupt vectors work, how your limited RAM limits your stack, how to debug.

Check out Freescale's 8-bit and 16-bit Microcontrollers, especially the HCS08 or HCS12. There are some $100-200 and some sub-$100 development systems with built in debug interface (Background Debug Mode). These are also higher performance and memory than Arduino. The CodeWarrior software is free (code size limitations, but in most cases the limitation number is greater than the amount of flash on these devices), and fully functional. I don't know if you can set code debug breakpoints with Arduino, but you can with these. There is another benefit to CodeWarrior -- while you do at first want to delve into datasheets to understand how memory-mapped registers for the various modules operate (eg, how a flag should be cleared, how to set a mode, whatever), CodeWarrior comes with Processor Expert which will generate functions for you for specific HCSxx family derivatives and their specific modules. Since most of these products reuse the logic between derivatives, with some minor differences, it makes sense to reuse code. Processor Expert has come a long way since its beginning 10 or so years ago. In the long run it is a huge savings to development time, as these functions take care of writing the very low level actions (eg, configure a PWM timer output pin for a xx/yy duty cycle with one C function call).

Then you can use some of the OS's that will run on these, or you can move up to ARM or ePPC. I know of at least one HCS12 demo board that comes with Linux and a webserver, which you could always wipe out for your first development, and then put it back when you're ready. Freescale is also very good with providing tutorials, application notes, and documentation, except that their site is sometimes hard to navigate. I suppose that's just a symptom of a large ecosystem. Good luck!