As others have said, the decision of whether to use assembly or 'C' depends on the project.

While I know optimizing compilers have advanced significantly, certain things will always be better written in assembly language--assuming the developer knows the effective use of assembly language.

If you already know 'C' and don't know 8052 assembly language it's probable that the 'C' compiler will produce better optimized code that what you could write manually in assembly language. Those that have been working with assembly language for some time, however, are going to be capable of writing optimized code as good as or better than the compiler.

I think the main advantages of 'C' is development time and readability. In almost all cases, you can write a program in 'C' much faster than you can in assembly language. It's also easier for someone to pick up someone elses 'C' code and understand it than it is to pick up someone elses assembly program and understand it.

That said, I still write my 8052 programs in assembly language unless the customer specifically requests 'C'.

Craig Steiner