Bibliography

One of the most frustrating aspects of developing embedded software is that there are few references available. Many of the books that have been written are poor or out of print, and there are only a handful of periodicals dedicated to the subject. What follows is an annotated list of the books, magazines, and other resources I found most helpful in writing this book. This is not an attempt to itemize all of the relevant publications. In fact, I have specifically omitted several books and magazines that did not impress me. What's left is a list of books worth owning, magazines and conferences worthy of your time, and World Wide Web sites worth bookmarking.

Books

Ball, Stuart R. Embedded Microprocessor Systems: Real World Design. Newton, Mass.: Butterworth-Heinemann, 1996.: This tiny book is packed full of information about hardware design and embedded system development that every embedded software engineer should understand to be effective.
Brown, John Forrest. Embedded Systems Programming in C and Assembly. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1994.: It's a good thing I didn't know about this book a few years ago. If I had, I might not have tried writing my own. It is obvious to me that Mr. Brown and I had similar visions for our books. And since I have tried to stay away from assembly language as much as possible, this book would make an excellent companion to the one you are reading.
Ganssle, Jack G. The Art of Programming Embedded Systems. San Diego: Academic Press, 1992.: Some very practical advice from one of our industry's most vocal gurus. The author of a monthly column in Embedded Systems Programming (described later in this bibliography), Mr. Ganssle has helpfully collected some of his most lasting tips and rules of thumb in this book. A handy reference for topics that are too specific to be covered here.
Kernighan, Brian W., and Dennis M. Ritchie. The C Programming Language. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1988.: A concise explanation of C's syntax and semantics direct from the founding fathers. A necessary component of any programmer's bookshelf.
Labrosse, Jean J. C/OS: The Real-Time Kernel. Lawrence, Kans.: R & D Publications, 1992.: A real-time operating system with source code and explanatory text—all for the price of a book. A great investment for someone who's thinking of writing their own operating system, or just looking for free source code. C/OS (pronounced "micro-COS") has been ported to many processors and has a large user base.
Rosenberg, Jonathan B. How Debuggers Work: Algorithms, Data Structures, and Architecture. New York: John P. Wiley & Sons, 1996.: If you've ever wondered what a debugger looks like on the inside, this book is for you. It will also give you a better understanding of the split between debugger and debug monitor and the potential for interference between the debugger and your programs.
Satir, Gregory, and Doug Brown. C++: The Core Language. Cambridge, Mass.: O'Reilly & Associates, 1995.: An excellent introduction to C++ for competent C programmers. If you don't already have a C++ book that you like, try this one.
Van der Linden, Peter. Expert C Programming: Deep C Secrets. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1994.: Written by a member of Sun Microsystems' compiler development team, this book helps to fill the gaps in knowledge between an ordinary C programmer and a guru. Although not entirely necessary, an understanding of these advanced topics can only make you a better embedded programmer. This book is an excellent reference as well as an entertaining read.
Van Sickle, Ted. Programming Microcontrollers in C. Solana Beach, Calif.: HighText Publications, 1994.: Like many of the embedded programming books that I've found, this one is specific to a particular processor family. However, because the book is well written and Motorola's microcontrollers are quite popular, some readers will still find it useful.

Magazines and Conferences

Embedded Systems Programming

A monthly publication devoted specifically to the issues embedded software developers face on the job. Every article and column is packed with practical advice and written in a casual style familiar to readers of this and other Nutshell Handbooks. I highly recommend that everyone reading this sentence immediately put my book down and take a few minutes to sign up for a free subscription at http://www.embedded.com/mag.shtml. It usually takes several months to get going, but is well worth the wait.

In addition, you might want to purchase a copy of the CD-ROM archive. This searchable database contains hundreds of past articles and columns and was an indispensable reference in the creation of this book. More information is available at http://www.embedded.com/cd.htm.

Embedded Systems Conference

A technical conference hosted several times each year by the publishers of the magazine just described. The conference has been running for about 10 years, and the number of exhibitors and attendees continues to grow each year. The knowledge to be gained here far outweighs the cost of traveling to the conference and attending the classes. I try to go as often as I can.

World Wide Web

Chip Directory (http://www.hitex.com/): An unbelievably large collection of information about common processors and peripherals. This is not the only such site on the Web, but it is one of the best maintained and it has links to many of the others.
CPU Info Center (http://bwrc.eecs.berkeley.edu/CIC/): Tons of information about new and old processors alike. Includes a section specifically about common embedded processors.
CRC Pitstop (http://www.ross.net/crc/): A site dedicated to information about CRC implementation, including Ross Williams' "Painless Guide to CRC Error Detection Algorithms." The latter is the most readable explanation of CRC calculations I've ever found.
Electronic Engineers' Toolbox (http://www.eetoolbox.com/ebox.htm): Focused on embedded systems, real-time software development issues, and Internet-enabling technologies, the "EE Toolbox" is designed to make your job easier. The publishers of this site have identified, indexed, and summarized thousands of relevant Internet resources and brought them all together in one place.
Embedded Intel Architecture (http://www.intel.com/design/intarch/): Intel's home page for their embedded processor line, including the 80188EB. In addition to technical information about the hardware, there are also free development and debugging tools and example source code listings.
news:comp.arch.embedded: A newsgroup devoted to many of the topics discussed in this book. Discussions frequently involve software development tools and processes, comparisons of commercial real-time operating systems, and suggestions for processor selection criteria.
news:comp.realtime: Another good newsgroup for embedded systems discussion. This one tends to focus more heavily on real-time scheduling issues, however, so not all of the information is relevant. A list of FAQs from this group can be found at http://www.faqs.org/faqs/by-newsgroup/comp/comp.realtime.html.