Influx of 8051 posts.

[Nigel Goodwin]

Is it just me?, or does there seem to have been a huge increase in 8051 related posts over the past few weeks?.

Is it because the education establishments are using the 8051 for their courses?, and perhaps that the modern generation are too lazy to look for the information themselves?, when it's easier to ask on the Internet.

 

[Jay.slovak]

I have noticed that too. I think that schools teach 8051 more than any other MCU architecture. They already have all necessary literature and developement tools, so they have no reason to change their teaching plans.

Or maybe people just got lazy to search, who knows...

 

[Papabravo]

I think the real problem is that people don't know how to read datasheets. They don't have the patience to dig the information out, and in many cases they don't know how to get them. What is worse even after you give them the answer, they ask the same question again as if the answer is going to change!

 

[fiveten]

I have asked some questions about the 8051 on this forum. I did first go to the local book store to find books on microcontrollers. There are a ton on this MCU and it was written by an author I am familiar with. There were no PICmicro books that jumped out like the 8051 books. I did not know that there is much more info on the PIC than the 8051. I should have gotten one for the PICmicro. I am stuck with the 8051 right now. I have been doing my own research on it. Although I don’t fully understand the architecture, I am getting familiar with how to control it using assembly language. I may post from time to time and ask questions but I will try and find it myself first.
I do however see a lot of peeps, mostly students asking for someone to hand them a complete project and code for their class. Come on people….ask for help, ask for ideas, if you want someone to do the project for you drop the class and take something you are interested in…

fiveten

 

[eblc1388]

I should have gotten one for the PICmicro. I am stuck with the 8051 right now.

Is that so bad? Then moves on to AVR. They are every bit as good as PIC, if not better and faster.

 

[mramos1]

Funny, I was just telling my Grandfather, there are tons of 8051 users on the forums. I find that so strange with the power of the microcontrollers available.

Then I saw this thread.

I stopped teaching at PBCC 5 or so years ago, because it was am IBM 360 assembler class, and I had not seen an IBM 360 in 10 year prior to that. I told the head guy, they have access the 360 machine via a MS-DOS machine, how about I teach them 8088/86 asm (the machine had editor, asm, linker on them already and free), and they refused. I told them I quit.

Also, I offered to re-write the materials at no charge.

eblc1388: I agree, the price of the tiny11 is great. Like the MEGAs too.

 

[Papabravo]

Boy that's the definition of ossified.

 

[fiveten]

Is that so bad? Then moves on to AVR. They are every bit as good as PIC, if not better and faster.

I'm ot saying it is bad. I am a beginner and I am thinking I should have started with a chip that has alot of support available. I have found quite a bit on the 8051. This is why I am sticking with it. I have learned so much (I Think) I just don't want to abandon it and start with a different chip. It may be quite na while befor I get into the AVR... Thanks for all the support I have otten so far. To Everyone!

fiveten

 

[kjennejohn]

Ossified- is that anything like fossilized?

The 8051 is still relevant because of the millions and millions of lines of code for it. I picked PICs a couple of years ago because they used less clocks per instruction (thereby were inherently faster for the same clock) and had the internal peripherals. And was well supported, had some good BASICs available, and was used a little at the place I worked.
Then I got canned and found myself working at a job that used varieties of the 8051. The designers here are indifferent to the lack of internal peripherals. Their boards go into large cabinets or get plugged into PCs. So now I am thinking of dickering with Intel embedded goodies. But, the compilers and support software at work are rather out of date, and I hate to think of learning software that was obsolescent everywhere else years ago. There's plenty of development stuff for 8051s, but Intel doesn't seem to be offering the support for low cost (even free) compilers, like the other processor producers. I guess their PC chip business, being their main bread and butter, allows them to ignore this market. However, it's exciting that Philips and Dallas are offering upgraded parts that run existing code (almost without mods) that use less clocks per instruction and add useful features. And, yes, there are the AVRs and others.

End two-cents.
kenjj

 

[Papabravo]

Ossified, from WordWeb Online, as an adjective it means

1. Changed into bone; hardened by deposits of mineral matter
"cartilages ossified with age"

2. Set in a rigidly conventional pattern of behaviour, habits, or beliefs
"an ossified bureaucratic system"
- fossilized, fossilised [Brit]

I was thinking of the second meaning, with respect to teaching System 360 assembly language.

 

[akg]

the increase is due to the fact , most of the institutes support 8051 core because C compiler is available for it

 

[lord loh.]

The big trouble with including a new microcontroller in the course is that the teachers will have to take the trouble to learn it....

My teachers in college are frozen in a timeframe when their M.Sc. text books were written.

They do not surf the internet to update themselves with the latest developments... Just chat, mails and jokes.

Neither do they read magazines.

Nor are they going to get fired for being outdated.

Holy cows.

My instrumentation who was teaching instrumentation from the past 17years could not tell me the multimeter specification of 3 1/2 digit and 3 1/4 digit.

I got it from this forum.

 

[crowinu]

Yep i think that most of institues are changing to the 8051 architecture, at least that's what they did in my institute.currently we are using the Atmel 8051 MCU, i still use PIC, and i'm trying to familirize with Atmega too. i'm still coding in assembly but soon they'r gonna tell us to migrate to the C language . At my second year we started with the Z80 microprocessor now we migrated to 8051 MCU. Most of institutes just teach basics of the architectures.

 

[kinjalgp]

The other reason of popularity is I guess the cost of 8051 MCUs as compared to AVR/PICs (may not be true for other countires but atleast in India it is true). Over here an Atmel 89C51 costs a mere Rs. 55 while 16F877 cost Rs. 270. Similarly 89C2051 is available for Rs. 45 while 16F628 is available for Rs. 90 !! This is the reason why I see 8051 more popualar among enthusiasts, hobbyists and even professionals.

 

[akg]

The other reason of popularity is I guess the cost of 8051 MCUs as compared to AVR/PICs (may not be true for other countires but atleast in India it is true). Over here an Atmel 89C51 costs a mere Rs. 55 while 16F877 cost Rs. 270. Similarly 89C2051 is available for Rs. 45 while 16F628 is available for Rs. 90 !! This is the reason why I see 8051 more popualar among enthusiasts, hobbyists and even professionals.

very true..

 

[samcheetah]

The other reason of popularity is I guess the cost of 8051 MCUs as compared to AVR/PICs (may not be true for other countires but atleast in India it is true). Over here an Atmel 89C51 costs a mere Rs. 55 while 16F877 cost Rs. 270. Similarly 89C2051 is available for Rs. 45 while 16F628 is available for Rs. 90 !! This is the reason why I see 8051 more popualar among enthusiasts, hobbyists and even professionals.

the same is the case here in pakistan. the 89C51 costs Rs.75 and the 16F877 costs Rs.400

the programmer for PIC microcontrollers costs Rs.2000 whereas the 8051 programmer costs Rs.800

so the cost is by and large the biggest factor in choosing 8051 over PICs or AVR. but the people in industrial development prefer PIC like for biomedical instruments and solid state energy meters.