This month I started videoing a new segment centered on the Arduino Uno as a baseline element to demo programming technique, explain C++, and showcasing various shields (Arduino daughter boards). You can find this material in the Projects area of this website under the name 'Shields'.

So what's so big about Arduino Uno? After all, it's been around since 2010. The Uno isn't the big deal. The IDE is. What the Arduino creators did, if you didn't already know, is provide a programming editor that keeps complexities of C++ in the background while giving a newbie programmer access to the microcontroller board's GPIO pins and functions through custom programming statements like digitalWrite(), digitalRead(), analogWrite(), and analogRead(). You don't even have to specifically call out the Arduino Class that lurks in the background. The IDE even has an initialization method and polling method built-in to organize your program flow.

The IDE also has a serial interface that connects your laptop or desktop to the Uno converting USB to UART that resides on the Uno chip. There is also a Serial Monitor where data can be printed out or data sent to the Uno with multiple Baud rates. There is none of the complex setup dialog boxes that plagued IDEs of the past. The focus is on the Arduino product line, but the IDE does include recognition for most of the world's other Open Source contributors.

I might mention at this point that the Arduino foundation is supported by you buying their products. Yes, you'll pay more than what you'd pay for a Chinese knockoff, but that extra goes to keep the Arduino concept alive. All of this is the result of the Open Source movement, which has changed the world for the better. No government or overseers push hidden agendas or channel commercialization of products. It's a worldwide community that respects the art and science of computing.

Along with Arduino's shields, there are a plethora of third-party shields as a results. You can take advantage of custom designs from shields that include breadboards or soldering areas.

The most important element in all of this is an inexpensive programming environment that may have add-on electronics to learn physical computing, which includes programming, robotics, IoT, and a lot more.

So, check out the new projects segment and pop open a can of Arduino. Enjoy.