Packetfury.net

Disclaimer: I was given a free copy to review

Books on embedded systems come and go, and over my ten years of experience I've seen quite a few. Most books will only go into detail about one particular subject; programming techniques, specific hardware or sometimes even a how-to for one specific situation. This book is different, for once an author goes into detail on just about everything.

Making Embedded Systems by Elecia White is not a bible, for some people it will not go into enough detail for specific parts of making embedded systems, but the domain itself is so vast that I really can't see how any one book could cover everything. Elecia goes into detail about the key functionalities of embedded systems; for example, power conservation, interrupts and timers. Everyone has heard about interrupts, but just what overhead do they create? When would I need them, when should I avoid them? Little details like this that are crucial for embedded systems, but that no-one really talks about, Elecia White lists them all.

Elecia also goes into a little more detail about another part of embedded systems; the teams that have the responsability of designing and building them. Just what makes an engineer suited for the job? What do you need in a team to give the best chances of success? This book has a few little extras about job interviews and trick questions, that while not necessarily required, always provide a welcome break between two subjects, and make you thin (the fridge question would have scared me!)

This book is aimed for beginners; most high-level engineers will already be looking for books on very precise subjects, but as a primer, it is great. With ten years of experience I didn't necessarily learn anything new technically (but a refresher is always welcome), but I now have a few ways of explaining things to junior members of my team, and a new way of thinking.

This book is full of technical detail, but more importantly, it is full of wisdom. I had fun reading this, and to the question would I recommend this book to a friend? I already have, to junior members of my team.