Arduino help

[Hugh Norwood]

Could anyone recommend a good book on the Arduino please (and probably also a good book on C++)
I'm thinking I need to use one for a little project I have simmering on the back burner.


And, no, I don't want to watch YouTube videos!

Many thanks

[Graeme Dunbar]

I'm a little out of touch as it has been a while since I bought one and also things have moved on quite a lot in the Arduino world. There are certainly a number of sophisticated Arduino hardware options and projects that are on the go now. I think though that the Arduino is still best for the simpler projects.

I'll have a look on my bookshelf and come back with a few suggestions after checking they are still available.


Edit:

Arduino Workshop An introductory 'textbook' type book. Perhaps a bit old now but solid. Covers basic electronics too. Perhaps its weakness from a  software point of view is it is not so much a language reference, but it does introduce things nicely through structured projects. Gets quite involved towards the end (Internet, GSM)

Arduino for Dummies Similar in scope, though it covers Processing which enables (for example) connecting an Arduino to a PC and allowing graphs to to plotted.

Two to avoid at all costs -

Arduino Model Railroad Animation (and presumably any of their other pot-boiling output). The title on Amazon tempted me. If the content was published as free online 'Instructables' I might say they were fair enough, though the structure, content and presentation of Instructables are often superior.

Arduino in Easy Steps Thankfully I borrowed this one from the library, but even then I felt cheated. The most positive thing I can say is it is colourful. It looks like chapters taken variously from sort-of coffee table books on electricity, binary numbers and logic with a chapter or two of Arduino stuff slotted in.

As for C (or C++) books, I am not sure it is really necessary. Having got an overview through books like the first two then the online Arduino software reference, example programs and tutorials will possibly do the rest. For anyone familiar with similar languages it just boils down to variations in syntax. Programming 'Arduino'Arduino there is really little need to delve into things such a pointer arithmetic, object oriented programming and so on. By all means if you intend to publish Arduino Libraries for the wider public then a good understanding of C++ is necessary, but for home Arduino projects, think of it not as being programmed in C or C++ but in its own language that just happens to look like a subset of C. (Roughly similar to the way that PIXAXE looks a bit like Dartmouth BASIC)

The cunning thing about Arduino is that you can program it in C/C++ (because it uses a C/C++ compiler) which is useful because it allows programmers to develop libraries on it to hide all the nasty complexity away from users. However if you want to program in C or C++ I'd use a proper development system and cross compile with Arduino as the target. The weakest aspect of Arduino is the more or less complete lack of tracing and debugging facilities. There is some (if they have got it to work) but it is only for advanced Arduino processor hardware. You are likely to be disappointed in comparison with PICAXE.

I'm out of date now, but the original Atmel (now Microchip) Studio was good, if a bit temperamental (it took a fair bit of effort getting it to work on a network for student laboratory work). You could get it to generate standalone C executable or wrapped up to look like Arduino.

[Hugh Norwood]

Thank you!
I've gone and ordered a "starter kit" to have a play!

[Terry Mowles]

Re the 'Arduino Workshop' book, make sure it is the 2nd Edition, it is from 2021, the 1st edition is 2013.

There's also the Arduino tutorials site where you can select the difficulty level between beginner and advanced https://docs.arduino.cc/tutorials/

Edit: I should add, from experience, avoid any Arduino book title that includes the word "Beginner", they usually tend to skip over the or only mention in passing stuff a beginner actually needs to know.

[Hugh Norwood]

Thanks, chaps. My start kit is due to arrive today....

[Keith Lawrence]

  There's also a website worth looking at, it's French but autotranslate does a good job.  Dedicated to Arduino & model railways.
https://tinyurl.com/mrszf86z

Keith

[Dave Cooper]

Hi Hugh,

The one that was recommended to me and I regularly use :-

"Exploring Arduino" by Jeremy Blum. Publisher Wiley.  ISBN 978-1-118-54936-0

It's project based, starting with a simple blinking LED and goes up to advanced comm's /data logging level.
Each chapter is a separate topic /project and gives the C/C++ code for you to copy. It also explains how you can use the 'C' libraries to find what you want so that you can 'tailor' the code as needed.

I imagine most of the bits will already be in store with you. There are one or two (modern) chips - 'H-Bridges' etc. that you'll need for motor control etc.

I'm about half-way through it and still learning !
Hope that helps,
Dave
ps Forgot to mention that the Arduino 'C' compiler will check your code for syntax errors. In fact, it won't let you upload the code to the main Arduino board until you've cleared them !

[Terry Mowles]

That book also has a very good support website https://www.exploringarduino.com/

I really need to re-read that one myself and there is also a newer 2nd edition available too.

[Hugh Norwood]

Update - it arrived, been unpacked and it works. Now to do some playing...

[Chris Odell]

i made a note of a book from the last Zoom meeting. it was called 'Beginning C for Arduino, Second Edition' by Jack Purdum. Someone in the meeting highly recommended it. I've not got a copy yet so this is a recommedation by proxy!

[Terry Mowles]

Just one thing to be aware of - the Arduino IDE (software writing/programming suite) has changed significantly in the last couple of years, so older books are based on an old version of the IDE.

The older versions are still available to download from the Arduino site - https://www.arduino.cc/en/software - bottom of the page under Legacy software.

[Alan Anderson]

I'm not an Arduino user, but do use The Pi Hut for most of my electronics shopping - I've found them very good and they have a section dedicated to Arduino, with a number of books on the 'Accessories' page. May be worth a look.
Alan