Hi, selecting a micro is impossible untill you have an application for it. The 8051 is getting a bit long in the tooth these days but it's still popular mainly because its easy to use and widely available. You can get assemblers and simulators for practicaly nothing all over the web so all you need is a programmer and your in business. Beware of C compilers that are being touted around, the 8051 is totaly useless as a C platform, as are PICs, stick to assembler.
I agree with what Cbarn said. May I suggest you look at the AVR micros from Atmel. I know of at least a dozen local companies who are converting their 8031/8051 design to the AVR micro. Reason? All the things Cbarn said, plus, the price, ease of use, very suitable for use with a C compiler, etc.
A good starter kit is available from Digi-Key for less than $100. Check out the Atmel website and also
To me its a handy tool, which used at the right time can be very useful. In fact in the past I've heard many engineers rave about it. I would agree that C programs can easily get too large, and the stack gets used up very quickly too. But its good for writting small apps quickly. Most of our apps have been written in C for whatever micro.
But, the trouble with most PICs is they don't have a hardware stack. Same problem with the 8051. The larger Atmel micros do have a hardware stack, which makes the compiler and compiled code more efficient.
