Hi Mike,

I would first reiterate Erik's comment to read thos documents that he calls "the Bible." Learning the architecture of whatever microcontroller you plan to use is crucial. Also, and without diminishing the points made by others emphasizing the specific and exact model of microcontroller you use, there are certain specifications that a microcontroller must meet in order to be called an 8051 or 8052. Learn these first, and then worry about the added features that make the specific models unique.

One bit of advice I give to every beginner is to write a rudimentary "Hello World" program, as simple as you can, and then translate it into binary (or Hex) manually. Erik's "Bible" will help you do this. You will be amazed how much you learn by doing this one exercise.

Finally, there is one more thing I would point out that noone seems to have mentioned yet. Bookmark 8052.com in your favorites folder, and learn to use the "Search 8052.com" button above. This forum (or now I guess it's these fora) is (are) intended to be a searchable encyclopedic resource for problem solving. That's why there's a "rule" about using as descriptive a subject as possible. I'm not sure it still matters, since the redesigned site now uses the Predatory Pedophile Protection Agency (aka Google) as its search engine and I believe they produce results based on the whole body of each post, not just the subject. Still, it's a good idea to aid the poor sap scrolling through all the search hits.

My point is that pretty much every problem you will encounter as a beginning student, and frankly most problems you'll encounter thereafter, have been experienced and discussed right here. And it can take less time to find and read the discussions than to wait for someone else to respond to a new question (especially if the first five responses are only to tell you to use the search button).

Good luck,

Joe

P.S. As for something to buy, read about Silabs tool stick.