Reviews

• This is a dandy book

  I have actually finished the first 50 projects. I did every one of them and made them work, exactly as advertised. The book is awesome although
  not without problems. There were no significant errors in the C code unless
  you consider using '11', instead of '++' to increment a for loop to be serious? Anyway, this is a trivial error and anyone remotely familiar with C would detect it immedidately. Otherwise all 50 projects have compiled flawlessly with the exception of Experiment 49 which uses a 16F684 to decode a keypad. The code consumed all of the code space but, once understood, was easily resolved by hard-coding a few constants in order to conserve space. As for the circuits, nary a hitch with the single exception, again in project 49, of failing to connect pin 5 of an LCD to ground. But again, this is easily understandable if you are paying attention to his previous project.
  
  Another issue is the author's usage of Enlish. There are some syntax problems but, again, if you want to concentrate on the project, you will
  understand what is being said and done. If the remaining projects even
  approach these first 50, I will consider this a magnficent accomplishment.
  
  If you want to master the PIC 16F, you cannot go wrong with this book.
  
  

• typos and neglected subjects

  I have the 2005 edition of this book and have just started to work with it. I am finding typo and other errors that are making me question the general reliability of the book. For example, on page 15 the c code in the book uses jll to increment a loop counter instead of j++. Also the book does not show how you can use a
  c structure to access the individual bits of a stored byte of information -- check out a Herbert Schildt book on c programming. Such a structure would help people to better understand the setting of bits for the various control bytes used in the pic device.

• Prerequisites required as well

  First, read the other reviews. Next consider that from the start this book was written with the expectation that you have read "...Robotic Experiments for the Evil Genius". This was never a beginners book. Also, all examples reference Micros PIKkit2. If you are struggling with another interface you won't find this much help.
  

• Haven't read it yet-not meant for light reading.

  Haven't had a change to study it yet.
  Still waiting for the companion book.

• Was a very good book for me

  I used this book two years ago to learn about microcontrollers, both programming and interfacing them to I/O devices. I already had previous knowledge of general computer programming and basic electronics, but knew nothing about microcontrollers. I did not go through the whole book, but stopped after the assembly language information in Sections Eight and Nine.
  
  I found the book filled with very useful information and examples, and since it was based on the inexpensive PICKit 1 it was very cost effective. It made it possible for me to build several small but useful projects using 8 and 14 pin PICs.
  

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