Recommendations on getting things to blink?

Using Arduino General Electronics
1

Hey there, everyone! I'm trying to create a project that requires lights to blink after a button is pressed, but it requires that buttons still be 'listened' for. I can design something using interrupts, but I would much prefer to just turn on a digital output and have some auxiliary circuitry to handle the blinking part, rather than it being handled by the software, since that is ridiculously expensive to get done.

So, any recommendations or suggestions on what sort of components I can use to get the blinking done?

2

555 timer

3

http://www.cappels.org/dproj/simplest_LED_flasher/Simplest_LED_Flasher_Circuit.html

or even simpler, yoy can buy flashing LED's

4

mewshi:
I would much prefer to just turn on a digital output and have some auxiliary circuitry to handle the blinking part, rather than it being handled by the software, since that is ridiculously expensive to get done.

Huh? Software was free last time I checked.

5

Look at the example called blink without delay. Understand how it works. Welcome yourself to the world of non-blocking code.

6

fungus:
Huh? Software was free last time I checked.

Costs can be much higher than any monetary expression can describe.
To blink using "blink", might cost you too much time to see a key being pressed.
So Delta_G's solution is the best.
Delay is a waste in all kinds of meaning of that word.

7

Don't use delay then. Look at the blink without delay example. There is a lot of processing power that you are wasting with delay().

8

just what hardware do you have?