How to choose the right bipolar op amp
by J. Scott Elder
Data specifications don't tell the whole story if you need to know the differences between old-style MOS components and their newer CMOS counterparts. This in-depth article, originally printed in Planet Analog and updated here, explains what to look for.

Make a PI controller on an 8-bit micro
by Crescencio Hernandez-Rosales, Ricardo Femat-Flores, and Griselda Quiroz-Compean
Normally the domain of more expensive 16- and 32-bit chips, PI controllers are useful in all sorts of industrial applications. Here’s a practical way to implement a PI controller on a low-cost 8-bit chip.

Source control is for everyone
by Michael Jansen
Every programmer knows that source-control systems are wonderful tools for keeping revisions and modifications under control. This article encourages hardware designers to do the same: use source control to manage hardware projects. The results are well worth it, the author says.

Programming Pointers
Volatile as a promise
by Dan Saks
The conversion rules involving “pointer to volatile” make a lot more sense when you see them in parallel with those involving “pointer to const.”

Break Points
Ninety-nine years ago
by Jack G. Ganssle
Ninety-nine years ago this month Lee De Forest was granted a patent for the most important invention in electronics, the vacuum tube.

#include
When's the next quake?
by Jim Turley
If “may you live in interesting times” was an ancient curse, someone has cursed the embedded systems industry. We thrive on change but how much real change have we ourselves embraced over the years? Maybe not as much as you’d think.