transition from software to embedded programming

Well, you should know the type of processor, pic/arm/avr so just googleit It should not take more than an hour. There are thousands of links, then refine your question

martin

You should change careers, probably to f Depending on your educational background:

a)You should probably take a few circuits classes at the local university. The trauma of doing homework, preparing for exams, etc., forces you to actually learn the stuff.

b)You should probably review classic embedded systems problems (initialization issues, interrupt-related issues, design of sequential logic, etc.).

The Lizard

t a

What an attitude. So I guess college graduates should pick a new profession. Everyone is a newbie somewhere along the way. That's what senior engineers/mentors are for.

JW

Right now I'm trying to find homes for two feral kittens (fortunately, their behavior is greatly improved from a couple weeks ago).

My two adult cats smack the kittens around just so they don't forget who is boss. Naturally, as the kittens get larger, this won't be possible any longer.

I don't see any reason that human behavior should be any different.

A post with the word "transition" in it asking for advice is really a request for abuse.

The OP wants abuse, but doesn't quite know how to ask for it.

I'm glad to accommodate.

The Lizard.

There's lots of stuff online, just takes a bit of googling. One place that's worth a look is

- lots of good articles there.

So what should you do? Buy a board with an 8-bit processor like an

80C51 or AVR, install a toolchain, and do stuff with it. One reason I suggest an 8-bit device is that, coming from the desktop world, you need to have it sink in that most embedded systems are pitifully short of the speed and memory that you're accustomed to. I saw an example recently of a person who declared about a dozen text strings in an embedded program and ran out of RAM. What he needed to do was force the strings to live in flash or other program memory and only bring them into RAM when he needed them. This is just one example of the kinds of things you need to learn in the embedded world.

Here's an example of the kind of board I'd recommend. It's got the obligatory buttons and leds, and it has an LCD display which I think is very useful to have and to master.

Mike

Huh? What makes you think you need electronic hardware design or production skills to work on software?

Yes, you should know how to understand schematics. But leave layout and production to the hardware guys.

Whenver I am in need for an embedded programmer I look for people who understand the hardware around the uC, have a basic graps of what production folks like and don't like (testing, debugging) and most of all can spot potential situations where something could go kablouie in a spectacular fashion. We try to avoid anyone who says "that's not my turf".

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

"gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam.
Use another domain or send PM.

Even better, I found a video illustration of appropriate comp.arch.embedded behavior:

t a

.

Lizard,

It seems you are pretty smart!!!

n/products/mega128.2/

Hi Mike,

I truly appreciate your help and comments you posted. This makes me feel better when I see there are only few weirdos like Lizard (end of the names!) in this group. Anyway, to make long story short, as I said I'm very interested in embedded and high speed design that is why I switched to electrical engineering in master degree now looking for an opportunity. I have done design/programming in FPGA on Altera DE2 boards and SOPC Builder (for using C) and and currently working on Xilinx (Spartan 3E).

In past had some experience with 8051 but recently have bought ARM board but yes everyone points to AVR as a good board to start. However, I have done mostly digital things not that much analog but planning to switch to that concept at well.

One thing I need to mention is that English is not my native language, it is the 3rd language I have learned so I'm not sure why this thing (lizard) is annoyed that much but in general I guess have to let it go ... so the only advice I will have for Lizard it just keep playing with your cats! and do not jump in people's discussion.

I . e I

ion/products/mega128.2/

-

Yeah, that reply was not helpful - some people are like that (or they're just having a bad day). Anyway, the AVR would be a good chip to start with. The folks at

are very helpful, and there are lots of tutorials on the site. So work with the AVR and then when you think you're ready work with your ARM board as well, and you'll be off to a good start. Best of luck.

Mike

, I

rs.

ace

n I

t e e

it

xt -

Sure. I have decided to start on AVR as you advised. Thank you so much for sharing your thought and sharing the links.

All the best

d

Thanks for the hint, I do accept what you believe but my new employer is asking for that too!

... snip ...

... snip ...

... snip ...

Lizard-like things abound on Usenet. Simply ignore them. If you get off google and use a real newsreader (and newsserver) you will have the ability to PLONK them, so you won't even see any further annoyances.

--
 [mail]: Chuck F (cbfalconer at maineline dot net) 
 [page]: 
            Try the download section.

Then maybe you've been applying for the wrong jobs.

Perhaps you are only thinking about large development companies, or ones working on particularly specialist or advanced designs. If the OP is applying to a small company that does customer-specific development jobs, then they could easily be looking for developers who cover both hardware and software.

It is not as if doing the electronics design for simple cards is hard - anyone with an aptitude for embedded software development can very quickly learn everything the need to know to make simple cards if they have guidance available. Similarly, any good digital hardware developer can quickly learn a little programming. Such mixes of skills makes development and testing *much* smoother and faster.

Obviously larger or harder tasks are best done by experts - if an employer expects you to design a microwave communications card and your own RTOS to run it, he's asking a bit much.