My personal all-around blog
My personal all-around blog

Good content on a bad print

You have probably heard of the term “embedded systems“.

There are a few hardware and software platforms that allow users to develop and test embedded applications and ideas.

Take your pick: Arduino, Beaglebone, Raspberry Pi, Launchpads, etc…

I own a few of them, plus some less general-purpose ones.

One of my favorites is mbed. It is quite easy and powerful. There are a few hardware solutions that are supported by the platform, made by big names in the chipmaking industry. All of them use microcontrollers with an ARM heart. That is because ARM is the founder and the power behind mbed platform.

I occasionally buy books to help me study and better understand the platform I am working with. I make extensive use of online documents, examples and how-tos when I work on the PC, but I also want something printed for the times I am not in front of a screen. Also I find material in a book more easy to sink in, maybe because of my age – I have been much better acquainted to books than computer monitors. I try hard to make it even… 😉

On this occasion, I bought this book.

It is an excellent start for everyone interested in the mbed platform, not much experience required.

I own some Newnes books already (more than 10 with a quick look) and I find them overall good. This one though I regret buying it. It’s a very good book, don’t get me wrong – lot of people love it, but this one shortcoming spoils it for me: I can not read the code. It is actually made in color as you can see when you use the “look inside” feature on amazon:

But my copy is black n’ white, so it looks like this (same page):

IMG_20141108_193536_1

(click to view and then download for full resolution)

It is not only that the print is so poor for the code block, the sheet is so thin that you can see what is printed on the other side!

Ok, of course there is a companion website where you can see the code of the book and additional resources, but if I have access to the website, I also have less need for the book…

Anyway, I don’t give up on this one yet, the content is worth it, I think. The authors know their stuff, and have tried to make it accessible for us all.

Use mbed, have fun and built something awesome!

Hacker’s Delight

I would like to say only a few words about the book of the same title as this post, by Henry S […]

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