[time-nuts] favorite microcontroller module?

[Chuck Harris]

Mike S wrote:
> At 06:36 PM 2/19/2008, Robert Vassar wrote...
>> I'll second this.  I'm kind of fond of the MCS-51 family for 8 bit
>> applications.
> 
>> I regard PIC chips as something to be avoided.
> 
> I suppose it's a religious issue, but I have always preferred 
> Motorola-style (MOS, Microchip), instruction sets (more orthogonal) and 
> mnemonics to Intel-style ones (Atmel). It makes more sense (at least in 
> English) to say "put the bread on the table," than "put on the table 
> the bread."

I suppose that you are bothered by:

X = 3000

Because that is the same as mov x,3000 in virtually all of the early assemblers.

> And don't get me started about linear addressing and memory I/O 
> (Motorola) vs. butt-ugly segmented addressing (Intel). 

It served a purpose.  Don't blame it on intel, blame it on DEC and
IBM.  Ever program a PDP8, or an IBM360?

When intel settled on the CS,DS,ES, SS architecture, they did so because
it made it easy to write pascal compilers.  Someone in the computer science
world told them that pascal was the way to the future.  I guess they were
wrong.

-Chuck Harris