I'm a new eevblog member (have lurked for awhile). I'm a hobbyist, have dabbled in electronics off and on for many years, and am now getting more serious about it and want to understand it better. I spent over 30 years in the computer industry as a software developer, tech consultant, etc. My recent foray into electronics began when I started playing with Arduino and designing simple circuits for my own amusement. That piqued my interest in more fundamental circuits... I've been reading and experimenting with some fundamental circuits (voltage dividers, oscillators, etc) and have gotten a small assortment of supplies and tools (decent multimeters, a power supply, a Siglent scope). At some point I'd like to design and build some new guitar effects (i.e. stompboxes) and perhaps some modules for modular synthesizers.
I like learning by example... using example circuits and trying to understand them and what makes them work. The best books I've found so far are two that are frequently recommended here:
- The Art of Electronics
- Practical Electronics for Inventors
What I haven't yet found are any electronics books that are similar to ones that have caught on in the software world... centered around commonly found and useful Design Patterns. Something that in the EE world might be called 'Circuit Patterns'. In the software world, design patterns are used to document and provide examples of software patterns that crop up repeatedly as part of more complex designs: things like Singletons, Factories, Facades, Proxies, Iterators, etc. It provides a very useful catalog of commonly needed functions, and provides a widely understood way discuss elements of software design. It also can provide a jump-start for new programmers who need to learn about essential software design patterns.
Is there anything like a 'Circuit Patterns' book in the EE world? Circuit 'patterns' certainly exist. The two books I listed above are full of them, spread throughout a great deal of theoretical text. What I'm looking for would be more succinct, more like a catalog of examples with accompanying brief description and operational explanations.
Circuit patterns would include common sub-circuits like Voltage Dividers, RC circuit patterns, RL circuit patterns, Oscillator patterns, etc. Such a book would provide a relatively succinct reference, a catalog of essential widely-used circuit designs. It would include example circuits (grouped by category), explain their function and the needs they satisfy, describe their use and applicability, show schematics, and contain explanations about how the circuits work... what makes them tick.
I'd love to use a circuit patterns book as aid to getting a more intuitive feel for electronics. Any suggestions for books I may have missed? Anyone want to tackle writing such a thing? Next week would be great.