The free, Java-based IDE is very simple, and easy to use – but if you want to, you can use other tools – or the command-line.  The programming language itself is a subset of C++ – so it’s perfectly possible to write quite sophisticated code; or you could program it in native C++ using the avr-g++ compiler.

As I say: you can write good code for Arduino, but the biggest problem with the vast majority of the programming examples that you’ll find on the internet is that they are often quite poorly written (at least, from the point of view of a professional computer scientist and software engineer like myself)…  But it doesn’t have to be that way.  There’s no reason why “good” coding practices cannot be adopted; and writing good code doesn’t have to be any harder than writing bad code.

Arduino is also the perfect toy (or do I mean “tool”?) for someone with a software background, to learn something about hardware & electronics; and have some fun building some things.  That’s why I wanted one.  The problem is, that as with the software side, a great many (though not all) of the websites I’ve found about Arduino are written from that same (distinctly non-technical) standpoint – and as such, aren’t great reading for someone who is technical…  For example: whilst lots of the material I’ve seen will tell you what to do (that is how to build a particular circuit) – it doesn’t cover the why…  And I don’t mean they miss out detailed stuff, like “Why is that resistor 220Ω?”; but rather the fundamentals like why is it there, in the first-place!

Having said that, not every website is bad – and in particular I can recommend Oomlout; who not only have some good training materials – but who also have an excellent online store in the UK: where you can buy an Arduino “Starter Kit”…

Whilst I can legitimately claim expertise with software, I don’t claim to be an electronics expert, (by any means) – but what I’d like to do in this blog, is to share with you what I have learnt: and to try to produce some learning materials, specifically written from the point of view of engineers & software people, to try to help pass that on…   (I don’t want to seem elitist here – I’m delighted that traditionally non-technical people want to learn about computers & software: and indeed I would encourage them to do so – it’s a fascinating subject: and a device like Arduino makes it possible to create all kinds of cool thing…  It’s just that “engineers” and “normal people” do rather need things explaining in rather different ways!)