Microprocessors and Microcomputers: Hardware and Software

This is an excellent book. It provides a comprehensive overview of microcomputer architecture. I recommend it to anyone who wants an introduction to the microcontroller field. Enjoyed reading it. Very informative. Learned a lot.

Microprocessors and Microcomputers by Ronld Tocci provides an good introduction to the microprocessor world. It does a very good job at explaing what the different components of a microprocessor based system does and how they fit together. This book is not for someone who is resonably knowledgable about the subject (i.e. you have already built and programed a simple microcontroller or microprocessor based system). The more experienced need to find a title targeting their specific processor of choice.

We used this as a textbook at the Univ. of Mich. Overall this is a good introduction to microcontrollers/processors. Authors kept discussion at the 'logic gates' level with an introduction to the Motorolla HC11 programming. Pace is gentle and just enough detailed for introduction to the subject.