AVR: An Introductory Course

This is an excellent introductory book on the AVR Microcontroler. It teaches the basics of assembly language programing for the AVR. I have found that assembly language programing is far superior to C language programing for the basic Input/Output programs and bit manipulation that I need to do for my experimental applications. The reader actually writes most of the programs in this book via a series of exercizes and challanges. It introduces the AVR instruction set via projects and text which fully explain each instruction and how it works. The AVR instruction set is easily applied to the entire family of AVR microcontrolers, unlike some other MCUs which each have their own set of instructions. The book goes into detail on the basic strategies that are needed for complete functional programs. I had struggled with the C language but became a true believer in the assmembly language instruction set after reading only the first few sections of this book. The text also provides circuit diagrams and cleared up all of my questions about circuit issues. I am very happy with this purchase and will keep this book as a reference going forward.

This is a pretty basic book, maybe only 150 pgs (minus appendix and section with binary math refresher). There's no index (sigh). It's based on AT90S1200 and Tiny12, but more recent device types should be similar at the core level. It's a learn-as-you-go introduction, which beginners will probably appreciate. So you won't see chapters oriented by "flow control", "interrupts", "arrays", etc., but by example project. But it's got lots of example code and probably worth keeping around even for the intermediate/advanced user. Avrfreaks.com is often useful and it's free.

This book provides a decent start to AVR programming, but it doesn't include any C, which I think would be a nice addition.In any event, the book is certainly packed with information, although it is a little light on explanatory material regarding the general electronics.It provides a cook book of projects, has enough information to get you started, and definitely acquaints you with the inner workings of the AVR. With this book, an STK500, and a few AVRs you can build interesting projects. Add a little electronics experience and you'll be on top of things.

I was pleased to find so much value in a book this small. This is a book for programming in Assembly. But considering the entry level processors that the author used that was a good idea. It won't be hard migrating to C language after reading this book. I lost my original copy and ended up buying a new one. I felt it was worth it. Don't worry about the small number of typos. With a data sheet you can easily figure them out.

spent a lot of time checking the credibility of the code, asseemed to be lots of questionable statements. also he doesn't bother explaining the internal pullup resistors and lots of other stuff that a new-to-AVR person wouldn't know. but of course he explains the different numbering systems.not very happy with it.

It is a good book for anyone who is just starting writting code for AVR processors or who just wants to learn how to write assembly language.

Avoid this book. I have coded Big Iron assembler for years, so Atmel came quick for me. Finding several errors early in the book, I paid no heed. Instead, I wasted hours coding and testing, finally looking at the actual avr doc . In the Morton Appendix list of Commands, the critical Store group (ST,STS,STD) has the wrong syntax and will never work. Forget Morton but not Atmel. Instead,download free AvrStudio with its nice assembler and great simulator. Then study the Avr-asm-tuTorial website. Write some code and then play with flashing it to your chip.

I'm quite familiar with other uCs, so this one was a good one for explaining the details of the AVR and how it differed (specific pins, timing issues) from other uCs I've played with. I liked the reading style, and the code, though assembly, was easy to translate into C.

I bought this as I'm having a bash at understanding and using the Atmel AVR series of micro-controller devices.So far it seems a good book although due to its age it relates to versions of the AVR which are now either very scarce or very expensive to purchase (AT90S1200 for example)I think a rewrite/update to cover things like the TINY and AtMega devices with suitable examples would take this book to 5 stars for me.That may just be though that I am still a tyro in AVR programming.I must add that I think this is a better written book than the similar one by the same author for PIC programming which I found very hard going.But we all have to start somewhere and this book seems better than much of the on-line stuff and far, far superior to things like AVR projects for the evil genius which is utter tosh.

This book takes a structured, step-by-step approach to software and hardware development with the AVR microcontrollers. As such, it should have merited 5 stars.But, it suffers from one minor and two major defects.First, and least importantly, the writing style is rather variable. It's the exclamation marks that get me annoyed! This gives some sections a rather breathless gosh-wow feel to them!Second, and more severely, typographical errors abound. While these will be obvious to many seasoned developers, the target audience of new AVR users will be flummoxed by them. One early section uses 320 ohm resistors (try finding them - the common value is 330 ohm), and repeatedly uses an OUT instruction to read a port value (it should be IN).Lastly, this appears to be a based on Mr Morton's previous book on PIC microcontrollers, to the point that one of the appendices is headed "Table of PICs". This leads to some problems in the hardware designs, particularly with driving LED displays. The AVR can only drive LEDs reasonably well using one type of connection, and it is not the way that most of the LEDs in this book are wired up. Many of the designs omit current limiting resistors, too. This can lead to (at best) bad practice, and (at worst) dead chips.I hope that these errors will have been rectified for edition 2.