This is a book intended for beginners, but it is also intended to be useful to those who have used Arduino for a while and want to learn more about programming the Arduino or have a better understanding of the fundamentals.

You do not need to have any experience of programming and the book does not require any soldering. All you need is the desire to make something. You do not need to have a programming or technical background.

If you want to make the most of the book and try out some of the experiments then it would be useful, to have:

    • a few lengths of solid core wire

    • a cheap digital multimeter

Both are readily available for a few dollars from a hobby electronics shop such as Radio Shack. You will of course also need an Arduino Uno board.

If you want to go a step further and experiment with Ethernet and the LCD display shield, then you will need to buy these shields that are readily available. 

Click on the book cover to the left to order from Amazon.

The book is organized into the following chapters:

Chapter 1. This is Arduino. An introduction the Arduino hardware, what it is capable of and the various types of Arduino board that are available.

Chapter 2. Getting Started. First experiments with your Arduino board, installing the software, powering it up and uploading your first sketch.

Chapter 3. C Language Basics. The basics of the C language and for complete programming beginners an introduction to programming in general.

Chapter 4. Functions. This chapter explains the key concept of using and writing functions in Arduino sketches. Demonstrated throughout with runnable code examples.

Chapter 5. Arrays and Strings. How to make and use more advanced data structures than simple integer variables. A Morse Code example project is slowly developed to illustrate the concepts being explained.

Chapter 6. Input and Output. How to use the digital and analog inputs and outputs on the Arduino in your programs. A multimeter will be useful to see what is happening on the Arduino’s input output connections.

Chapter 7. The Standard Arduino Library. Making use of the standard Arduino functions that come in the Arduino’s standard library.

Chapter 8. Data Storage. Writing sketches that can save data in EEPROM memory and make use of the Arduino’s built-in Flash memory.

Chapter 9. LCD Displays. Programming with the LCD Shield library to make a simple USB message board example.

Chapter 10. Arduino Ethernet Programming. Making the Arduino behave like a web server, including a little background on HTML and the http protocol.

Chapter 11. C++ and Libraries. Beyond C, looking at adding object-orientation and writing your own Arduino libraries.