C Programmer's Guide to Serial Communications

Rating:
Summary: Not a cook book for win32 API serial port problems
Review: I bought (among others) this book because it is 2nd edition (errors & typos hopefully eliminated) and it had good reviews and in order to solve a serial port programming task for Datamax DMX600 barcode label printer under windows 2000 with C/C++
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My book was reprinted 1999, but please note that it is 2nd edition as of October 1993, i.e. at the time of IBMPC. Today, you won't find the files IBMPC.C, UART.h, SIO.h at all in your libraries at all. Furthermore it does not deal with the 16550 UART and more modern UARTs which cause today's real world problems.
Apart from that the book constains some good "general" language/ programming principles and lots of XMODEM C-code. As a beginner in kernel/device driver programming I missed a use case, WORKING example, and will now put the book back on the shelf and work through the WATCOM sdk ComPort example. Do not trust the "The definite Book on the subject" sticker on the cover page!! Rainer

Rating:
Summary: Not as simple as it all seems...
Review: I bought this book based mainly on the reviews.

Although this book has some great information in it, i found that it is written as if there is a need for the reader to have a background in electronics.

The CRC calculation section is a typical example where Joe Campbell is obviously attempting to explain how to do the calculation as simply as possible, but instead, overly complicates it by using the "Hardware Model" to do so. The final insult being that this is all "simple". A more mathematical, formulaic/recipe treatment would have been far more effective, and useful for the non-electronics gurus amongst us.

Get this book if you love and understand hardware at the "cellular" level. Find something else if you believe that electric impluses are best left up to the computer pixies that run around your motherboard making everything work!

Rating:
Summary: My reference for serial communications
Review: I bought this book several years ago. Since then, as an embedded programmer, I worked with GPS, landline and cellular modems, HyperTerminal scripts, as well as RS232 ports from the processor side. It has helped me with my job and saved my bacon several times. I am very happy that I purchased the book. Thank you Mr. Campbell.

Rating:
Summary: Complete does not mean good
Review: I was introduced with campbell book wile studing at University; for a course of Data Comunications.

The firt part of the book is really fine; I've never used the second one. As a programmer working ocasionally with RS-232 I've found usefull the concepts explained in the book while working with serial comunications and High Level libreraries like termios under UNIX or Comm Object in VBasic

Rating:
Summary: Best serial communications book in 28 yrs experience.
Review: I've been designing, installing and programming communications networks for 28 years (asynch, synch, X.25, APPC) and this is the most lucid explanation of asynchronous, serial I/O I've found.

I've written low-level, interrupt-driven comm. handlers for the 8250 UART based on this book. To my knowledge, I've the only interrupt-driven INPUT buffer routine I've ever found (in C).

Chapters 6 and 13 alone are worth the price of the book.

Two of the systems I've used serial I/O are: [1] interface between HP 3000 and cardboard corrugator for production control; includes five serial I/O ports to machinery, consoles and spooled printers (under DOS!). [2] interface to meat grading probe, electronic scale & bard code reader in a slaughterhouse (DOS again).

Rating:
Summary: This book is indispensable
Review: If you are planning to do any serious programming with serial communications, I suggest you purchase a copy of this book. Instead of just a narrative, this book contains as key charts, C code, and X modem information, informational and classical C R C circuits, frequency modulation, scratch pads, terminal information, R S 32 intimation, and on, and on, and on.
It includes an ASCII poster. I have tried mounted my copy of the ASCII poster and placed on Wall above the CRT. The people where I took it to be dry mounted asked me if this was an eye chart.
The Bullets on the back cover include: * The ASCII character set and cover extension techniques.
* The fundamentals of a synchronous technology: baud rate, START and STOP bits, and more.
* Error-checking methods including a landmark treatment of C R C's.
* Flow-control and file-transfer protocols.
* Modems: theory and practice.
* The rs-232interface from the programmer's point of view.
* Intelligent modems, including the entire Hayes smart modem family.
* UART's: a detailed examination of two popular products the 8250 and the deceit Z80SIO.
This book is 655 pages long and there is not one wasted.

Rating:
Summary: This book is indispensable
Review: If you are planning to do any serious programming with serial communications, I suggest you purchase a copy of this book. Instead of just a narrative, this book contains as key charts, C code, and X modem information, informational and classical C R C circuits, frequency modulation, scratch pads, terminal information, R S 32 intimation, and on, and on, and on.
It includes an ASCII poster. I have tried mounted my copy of the ASCII poster and placed on Wall above the CRT. The people where I took it to be dry mounted asked me if this was an eye chart.
The Bullets on the back cover include: • The ASCII character set and cover extension techniques.
• The fundamentals of a synchronous technology: baud rate, START and STOP bits, and more.
• Error-checking methods including a landmark treatment of C R C's.
• Flow-control and file-transfer protocols.
• Modems: theory and practice.
• The rs-232interface from the programmer's point of view.
• Intelligent modems, including the entire Hayes smart modem family.
• UART's: a detailed examination of two popular products the 8250 and the deceit Z80SIO.
This book is 655 pages long and there is not one wasted.

Rating:
Summary: Informative Book
Review: This book is well written and easy to understand. The author provides an extensive background in the basics of serial communications in the first portion of the book. The second portion of the book provides many insights into programming for serial communications. The code examples are easy to follow and provide a useful library of tools.