Book is ramping up slowly, which is great on the hardware aspects, little boring on the programming, but I’m sure it will eclipse my knowledge soon. Hopefully things mix up as more syntax is covered. The projects are good so far, but I’m not super psyched about the format.
The layout is frustrating at times. I understand layout being tricky and wanting to include plenty of visuals, but having the diagram on one side of the page and the detailed review on the reverse is frustrating. I could have lived without a shiny picture of a random capacitor in order to follow along with the circuit schematic while it’s being explained.
Likewise the projects are presented as they are explained, so you ending up covering the what before the why – i.e. get all this stuff, wire it like this, and here’s why… I get why they do it, but it’s a little monkey-see, monkey-do for my taste. I prefer to think it through on my own first, so I can see how my attempt stacks up.
So far they’ve covered the required base components prior to the projects, so hopefully that trend continues. The goals for project 4 were pretty non-specific, so I read through their algorithm as well. I would have prefer to write my own, but it’s the only place the goal is defined. I guess I’ll see how tomorrow’s programming shakes loose. And to test the connections I made tonight so I don’t make myself crazy (crazier) over a miss-wire.
I am also seriously considering a Raspberry Pi / VNC setup so I can flash the board from my workbench. I don’t really need it, but it is quite shiny. Constantly switching back and forth between desks is less than optimal. Especially with the heat on; one of these days I’m going to shuffle across the carpet and fry something.
based on Arduino Workshop by John Boxall
