The "base model" is 8031. That is really what's described in the online tutorial. Everything else is a derivative of that.

Datasheets are documents that give the specifics of any given IC. Yes, they are the PDF files that are linked to from the chips page. The PDFs are not hard to understand but they do assume some level of knowledge of the architecture and electronics. If your class is referencing clock speeds and power consumption I would think the datasheets would not be that foreign to you...

What is your class? If it's extremely basic you might want to check out How Stuff Works: Microcontrollers. It talks about how/what microcontrollers are in very easy-to-understand terms, for the non-computer non-engineer type of person. That might help you get a grasp on some of the topics that this site assumes you already know.

Craig Steiner