I think you have to really consider what you intend too use the micro for
8088, 8051 assembler is a good start but not quite as easy as you think Pic micro on the other hand ,low end range is a good place to start which will give you a good insight into micro's in general
Progressing from here you then need to consider what the cheapest programmers are and where you can obtain free IDE and compilers "Not Cheap something like the Kiel C for example can cost you close on $1000 dollars plus " That’s without the programmer "
Next ,you need to consider where the future technologies are possibly going to be and what your final aim might be for example might you be interested in DSP as your final aim in which case 8051 8088 technology isn’t really going to be mainstream by the time you have finished making your investments
Having understood pic micro's I would possibly move to some thing along the lines of Atmel there after moving into MASM32 by which stage you will then become accomplished in not only understanding assembler but also all the different registers associated with both PC and embedded architecture
but certainly start with a small device to get the feel of what type of architecture your after Why you would choose one embedded cpu as opposed to another , pipelining, registers popping methods off the stack Page memory , Interfacing with LCD and other external components I2C bus ,memory chips , port expanders , 3 wire bus, single wire bus, RS434 , RS232 these days now USB 1 2 ,3 TCPIP sockets , embedded servers , modems , this includes also now 3G modems possibly later on this will encompass 4G , Rf Modems , and finally moving into MBUS IBUS CAN BUS , that’s if you are also interested in something along the lines of the motor industry Not forgetting of course X10 , X25 these are still standard protocols that are used with embedded devices for Home automation Industry standards
You might also read what I have explained here and certainly within this framework look very seriously at keypad interfacing and Infra red remote protocols such as the Phillips RC5 protocol , Sony SIRC infrared protocol
A good point of interest here is to see if the compilers actually offer functional written code for not only
SonIn ( ) but also SonyOut() like wise with Phillips Panasonic or any other leading manufacturers protocols that you might use in embedded applications
Although theoretically you could write these in assembler yourself, Ask what they offer check into ease of use integration with other IDE’s for example MPlabs etc
Work from simple to complicated not the reverse
A: decide circuit
B: design hardware
C: Ascertain what cpu
D: Final goals accomplishments
E: What compiler and speed of execution
F: What needs to be done in assembler? What doesn’t
G: Number of words , total programme memory
H: What other functional operations does the software offer
I: What other devices can you programme, Other makes
J: Could you make these interfaces yourself if so would that be a cheaper option
These are all very important factors to take into consideration before you rush out and buy the first compiler that you can your hands on and more often than not look also at the support they offer Very important this as I’ve also come across software companies Majors ones at that who are only to keen to have your money but alas when it comes to supports Its a case of thank you very much had your money and we don’t need to do any more for you Plenty of companies like this I can assure you "
Mark www.harrington.force9.co.uk PS you will find stacks of information on my site reference projects and introductions and pointers to very good pages on the net
