No one with any sense would include me in a market research focus group. Things I like are definitely atypical—at least for the general population. I like to think I'm pretty typical for a geek though. But even geeks have some variation. One thing's for sure: I like C. Especially for embedded programs. You've probably noticed I like Forth too, especially when I have to write my own language

Long-time Dobbs Codetalk readers may recall my Arduino review nearly a year ago.  At the time, only a brief book programming the product existed.  Apress has recently published a book that dives much deeper on the subject and walks readers through over a dozen Arduino projects.  Read on for the review.

I always have the idea to port a C compiler to target one of my custom CPU projects, but I haven't done it (yet). But I'm always looking at tools to simplify the job.

 One of these is the LLVM (Low Level Virtual Machine) compiler infrastructure. The LLVM itself isn't a compiler -- it helps you build things like compilers. However, the project ships clang , a front end for C, C++, Objective C, and

When you need a CPU with custom I/O or features, there seems to be three very distinct ways that people employ FPGAs. One solution is to simply incorporate an FPGA along side a standard CPU. You keep using your usual development tools and just build some interface between the CPU and the logic on the FPGA.

Another way to handle a design like this is to build the CPU right on the FPGA along with

Recently I was shopping for a serial to Ethernet solution. There's quite a few “boxes” that perform this task, but I was shopping for something to embed in another device without surgery. Of course, I have a bunch of TINI board which can do the job (a byproduct of my Embedded Internet book). A cheap single board PC or PC/104 board would to the trick too. But I figured there had to be some ready-built solutions out there. Here's what I found:

What's smaller than a breadbox, runs Linux, and costs US$149? The Beagleboard. And if you aren't a Linux fan, you can even run Symbian on it along with many other choices such as Android, QNX Neutrino, and Windows embedded, judging by the projects links on the Beagle Web site.

 Also from their web site:

• OMAP3530 processor delivers laptop-like performance at handheld power levels
• Over