Focusing on Microchip Technology's "PIC" microcontroller chips capacity to integrate features of a digital design, this book introduces program writing with a series of code templates that helps readers learn by doing rather that start code writing from scratch. Using detailed block diagrams to illustrate registers, control bits, and status bits associated with assorted functions, the book also provides examples to illustrate points and to demonstrate how assorted issues can be handled. It provides a systematic path into the PIC microcontrollers by showing its organization and ways to deal with idiosyncrasies. Provides alternative methods for addressing interrupt timing constraints to meet the needs of all interrupt sources. Presents a systematic treatment of slowly changing events, including keyswitches that have been debounced and scanned with a state machine implementation. Discusses a number of important topics, including the PIC's flexible analog-to-digital conversion facility; the master-slave interconnection of PICs; low-power operation alternatives; and comparisons of PIC family members for design requirement analysis. An essential reference book on the PIC microcontroller for every professional engineer or designer. Read Less