Book excerpt: A hands-on introduction to microcontroller project design with dozens of example circuits and programs. Presents practical designs for use in data loggers, controllers, and other small-computer applications. Example circuits and programs in the book are based on the popular 8052-BASIC microcontroller, whose on-chip BASIC programming language makes it easy to write, run, and test your programs. With over 100 commands, instructions, and operators, the BASIC-52 interpreter can do much more than other single-chip BASICs. Its abilities include floating-point math, string handling, and special commands for storing programs in EPROM, EEPROM, or battery-backed RAM.