Electronic Circuits and Projects Forum

I have been browsing the forums and found a lot of good stuff here. I have never dabbled into IC chips but now have a huge interest in them. I have been researching all day different types of chips along with how to program them. I went to school for electronics but they never really touched on different styles of IC chips on the market and what they do.

My application requires a computer to run an application (a visual basic app) that controls a circuit via the local Com port. I have looked at the MAX232 and MAX232A chip but it seems it is only good for converting RS232 line level to TTL level voltages. I need advice on an IC chip that can support a TX, RX and GND that can accept ASCII character codes (0-255) and then depending on the code sent, it will send certain output pins high/low. I am thinking that I need a chip that supports the TX, RX and GND pins but also a chip that supports programming. I plan on writing some code for the chip so it knows what to do when it gets for example an ASCII character code of "250".

I know I may be asking a lot on this request but even if someone can point me in the right direction that would be great. I am also looking for a beginners kit/guide/tutorial on programming IC chips along with an explanation of what each chip really does. I have found a lot of good sites for the programming portion but wanted to get some more opinions. I am looking for a programming language and chip that can support communications with other devices using the serial, parallel and USB interface.

Thanks in advance.

After posting this I was looking through one of my EET magazines and found a PIC programming kit and it said it supported programming a "12CE67X", which is great because I know that chip is used in one of my other circuits and it accepts serial inputs. The chip in mind is the 12CE674. It seems the PIC programming is the way to go. Thanks for reassuring me on this.

For beginners I think the Arduino is the better choice: Microcontrollers for Beginners - Open Circuits Not to say that PIC is not great.