Want to get started programming microcontrollers

[CFrank773]

What motorola microcontroller should I use as a good starting point?. I Have an electronics degree, repair for a living, and can prototype pretty well, but I don't know anything about motorola microcontrollers. which one should I use? more importantly,, what book should I get that will teach me how to program it. I would prefer a text book over several unrelated freescale text releases. Does Freescale have a good primer for a beginner? any help much appreciated. C.

[i_mxl]

The choice of any specific microcontroller be it freescale or any other vendor begins with the applications design parameters. If you know these parameters such as peripheral support then choosing an appropriate microcontroller is fairly easy with a little research.

 If you are seeking general knowledge on programming a microcontroller then you may want to begin by reading or referencing a book in C/C++ or assembly language. On-line tutorials in C can be very helpful for beginners. The integrated development environment that you choose for a specific project will easily compile your application code in these languages. An example is CodeWarrior which I believe offers evaluation copies that support certain family microcontrollers (programming density limited). The microcontrollers themselves are fairly cheap which I understand is relative term but even higher end 32 bit microcontrollers around the 10 dollar range support many peripherals and such applications will usually require an embedded operating system which I believe is out of the scope of this post. Most of the microcontrollers you see can be sampled free. You may want to reconsider component and software specific documentation and application notes because they are invaluable for all stages of development. Practice programming and becoming familiar with the IDE and before you know it you'll want to start trying new things, ENJOY!