Learning C for PICS

wire-screw · 16 Apr 2013 at 19:19

I wonder if anyone in OcUK can help me!

So my analogue electronics is very strong but my knowledge of micros is really holding me back at the minute.

I've been wanting to use micros for at least a year now but I have found nothing useful to help me learn the C language. I want to use C and PICs because I plan to use it in work late in life so I would rather use a commercial compatible solution to start off with.

I know no assembler or C, I played about with an arduino for half an hour at a friends but that's it!

Any videos/websites would be helpful!

Thanks
Boscoe

d_brennen · 16 Apr 2013 at 19:21

I was going to say Arduino, but you did already

Did that half hour put you off?

wire-screw · 16 Apr 2013 at 19:39

It's not C is it?

bitslice · 16 Apr 2013 at 19:47

This:
http://www.mikroe.com/mikroc/pic/

and one of their development boards would give you a good headstart

Dark Light · 16 Apr 2013 at 20:08

d_brennen said:
I was going to say Arduino, but you did already Did that half hour put you off?

Assembler on the Arduino, happy memories.

dowie · 16 Apr 2013 at 20:28

http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electric...-practical-programming-in-c-january-iap-2010/

RomanNose · 16 Apr 2013 at 21:04

I would suggest learning C on a hosted system first, debugging is generally easier than embedded.
Have fun, it's pretty daunting to be honest. A lot of people on my course still don't know embedded programming that well.

d_brennen · 16 Apr 2013 at 21:07

GSWAudio said:
It's not C is it?

Strictly speaking, it is

Chris1712 · 16 Apr 2013 at 22:29

Best absolute beginners C book, IMO - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Programming-Macmillan-Master-Tony-Royce/dp/0333638514.
Saying that, the only PIC programming I've done was assembler. Made an MSF receiving radio with lcd display back in my first year of uni.

Dr.EM · 16 Apr 2013 at 23:10

I've been using MPLAB and the PICKIT2 system for a while. I'd say it's not the most intuitive to use, but it is cheap and I think it's closer to industry standard systems.

The PICKIT2 comes with a little evaluation board usually, it has 4 LEDs, a switch and a potentiometer. Pretty quickly you'll move away and build your circuits on breadboard. The PIC is programmed over ICSP and you can leave the header on your finished boards, which is highly recommended, never assume your code will ever be final/perfect!

I needed some help from a friend to get started with this set up and you'll always need to refer to the actual PIC datasheet for your chosen device, but again, this is good practise and you'll learn the theory from a really base level. I started off not able to even load example code onto it! Now programming my own LCD and remote control, SPI ports etc, system for Uni project. Much more confident with it now but still quite a C language noob.

JonJ678 · 16 Apr 2013 at 23:25

I'll second RomanNose - C on a computer will be a faster learning curve than C on a microcontroller.

"C in a nutshell" is brilliant, provided you can code in something already. C is a fun language, in a masochistic sort of way. I like "The C Programming Language", Kernighan and Ritchie, as a more thorough treatment.

kitkat9933 · 16 Apr 2013 at 23:50

I found this book really useful when I learnt C. In the style more like a School textbook, so breaks it down quite simply and makes it easier to go through. I find a lot of other books are good but only when your familiar with programming in another language for instance and skip some of the 'why' bits out.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Programming...d=1366152529&sr=8-1&keywords=programming+in+c

wire-screw · 17 Apr 2013 at 08:48

Thanks for the help I think I will get one of those books.