Archive

So You Wanna Be An Embedded Engineer

Oct. 18, 2017

By Lewin A. R. W. Edwards
ISBN: 0-7506-7953-0

I often get requests for recommendations from budding embedded engineers. Finally, I have found a book I can recommend for novices, So You Wanna Be An Embedded Engineer. Edwards has done a good job at answering a rather generic question. The book will not be the answer to every potential engineer but it is a good start.

The book is a combination of answers to basic questions like How To Get The Job as well as A Typical Week. Any veteran will be nodding in agreement with much of the book and it is handy to have this info on paper. It will not turn you into an embedded engineer by the end of the book but it will give you plenty to think about.

The two chapters I especially like are about teaching yourself. One is from the bottom-up and the other is the top-down. Actually these are more about low versus high end microcontrollers but they are good reading none the less. The low end discussion includes microcontrollers from Intel (8051), Atmel (AVR), Microchip (PIC) and Texas Instruments (MSP430).

This book will be useful for a programmer looking to move into the embedded arena as well as hardware gurus looking at software. Edwards has put together a good starting point that should satisfy anyone with questions about embedded programming as a profession.

About the Author

William G. Wong | Senior Content Director - Electronic Design and Microwaves & RF

I am Editor of Electronic Design focusing on embedded, software, and systems. As Senior Content Director, I also manage Microwaves & RF and I work with a great team of editors to provide engineers, programmers, developers and technical managers with interesting and useful articles and videos on a regular basis. Check out our free newsletters to see the latest content.

You can send press releases for new products for possible coverage on the website. I am also interested in receiving contributed articles for publishing on our website. Use our template and send to me along with a signed release form.

Check out my blog, AltEmbedded on Electronic Design, as well as his latest articles on this site that are listed below.

You can visit my social media via these links:

I earned a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology and a Masters in Computer Science from Rutgers University. I still do a bit of programming using everything from C and C++ to Rust and Ada/SPARK. I do a bit of PHP programming for Drupal websites. I have posted a few Drupal modules.

I still get a hand on software and electronic hardware. Some of this can be found on our Kit Close-Up video series. You can also see me on many of our TechXchange Talk videos. I am interested in a range of projects from robotics to artificial intelligence.