In this new book, Microcontroller Basics with PIC, Elektor author Tam Hanna covers microcontroller basics and presents all essential aspects of microcontroller programming, without overloading the reader with unnecessary or quasi-relevant bits of information. Having read the book, you should be able to understand as well as program, 8-bit microcontrollers.
Microcontroller Basics with PIC
New Book: Microcontroller Basics with PIC


The introduction to microcontroller programming is worked out using microcontrollers from the PIC series. Not exactly state-of-the-art with just 8 bits, the PIC micro has the advantage of being easy to comprehend. It is offered in a DIP enclosure, widely available and not overly complex. The entire datasheet of the PIC micro is shorter by decades than the description of the architecture outlining the processor section of an advanced microcontroller. Simplicity has its advantages here. Having mastered the fundamental operation of a microcontroller, you can easily enter into the realms of advanced softcores later.

Having placed assembly code as the executive programming language in the foreground in the first part of the book, the author reaches a deeper level with ‘C’ in the second part.

What Does Microcontroller Basics with PIC Cover?

  • Why PIC? Why assembler?
  • Installing MPLAB on Windows
  • Executing Assembly in Sequence (Getting closer to the PIC, building a testing rig, intro to Assembly)
  • Program Sequence Control (Jump operators and pipelining, slow down program execution with NOP)
  • PIC Arithmetic Operations (Understanding binary, comparing numerical values, logic operations)
  • Interrupts and Sleep Modes (Interrupt logic, let's save power, monitoring with WDT)
  • Indirect Addressing (Discrete and continuous, configure the DAC, on lookup tables, tables from data memory)
  • Getting Started with C (The C workflow, install MCC, start MCC, analyzing compiler output)
  • Interrupts and Timers a la C (Interrupt handling with C, provision of interrupt logic, merging changes)
  • Hardware Accerlated Buses (I2C, SPI, and more)
  • Storing Data During Power-Off (Writing to EEPROM, a matter of speed, addressing games, HEF)
  • And much more!

Special Offer

If you order this book before February 15, 2020 (0:00 CET) you get €5.00 off the normal retail price. You pay only €29.95 (£24.95 | US $32.95)! Click here >>