12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Picaxe, 13 Nov 2005
By S. T. Swan "Stan." - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Programming and Customizing the PICAXE Microcontroller (McGraw-Hill Programming and Customizing) (Paperback)
As a fan of David's earlier Picaxe booklets, I see his new book as being a great aid when wrestling with applications for these dirt cheap microcontroller darlings. The book works at many levels, since with beginner, intermediate, & experienced sections it should appeal to schools as well as being a good reference for old hands, hobbyists and -gasp- even engineers.
Wearing my photo journalist's hat & given the A1 technology now available, at least a few PICTURES would have been appreciated, since layout circuits are just simple line drawings akin to those in his earlier "Mechatronics" booklets. Perhaps things more in the style of the Rev.Ed .pdfs would have better caught the eye? This is naturally both an initial marketing AND educational end user issue- kids steaming in classrooms during Australian heatwaves need stimulating.
I'd personally have whipped up a bit of early can do enthusiasm as well (photos of pre teens robots, "girls can do anything" smart traffic lights,old codgers with balloon wireless weather telemetry etc -all with "it works" smiles), but then that's -ahem- my own style!
Since many texts now come with a back cover CD, or are perhaps web linked for copy & paste downloads, users will be faced with -argh!- raw code entry as neither are included. Although of course this will be educational,longer programs (such as David's great phone exchange) really need more productive linking, as typos will surely otherwise arise. I well recall pages of games code listings in early 1980s computer mags (VIC-20, Spectrum etc)that lead to keyboard angst & weary eyes...
All up I'd say every electronics class, school and library should have a copy. Perhaps the biggest compliment I can make is that this book is one I should have perhaps rustled up myself!
Stan. SWAN ( author of numerous "Silicon Chip" Picaxe articles 2003-5)
9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
You proably don't need to but this book, 4 July 2006
By J. Green "Picaxeman" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Programming and Customizing the PICAXE Microcontroller (McGraw-Hill Programming and Customizing) (Paperback)
I am new to the PICAXE so I was looking for all the information I could find. The [...] website has quite a bit but I felt like I needed more. I saw the book advertised with glowing reviews and ordered a copy at once. When the book came, I had gotten pretty familiar with the information on the web site and was looking for something more in depth. After looking at the book for quite some time, I still haven't found anything of use that can't be gotten from the web site. Actually, whenever I need information, I go to the web site instead of loking at the book. The picaxe user forum is also helpful. There may soon be other books on the PICAXE and I hope the authors do a better job than was done here.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A rare gem packed with wide range of info and techniques, 1 Mar 2011
By K. Kuo "formerisan" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Programming and Customizing the PICAXE Microcontroller 2/E (Programmable Controllers Series) (Paperback)
I am glad that I had this book with me while learning the PICAXE 18M2. My main interest was the serial communication and basic I/O processing and the book covers them nicely. Yes, the manufacturer's website has the most up-to-date info about the chips. But this books does wonder getting me into PICAXE quickly and smoothly. The section on interfacing with various electornics is a plus. And the advanced experiments will give us hobbyists valuable ideas. Highly recommended.