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[on:]

i was reading up on getting some code onto a attiny ,which has little space for code so can use just the programe you want to run.but how about larger chips with more room to hold code ,can i just avoid a BL and just use the programe code on its own.
using an avrisp ii via studio 6 can i just get code on them sans a BL ?
could i just load the blink sketch on its own on say a uno or mega ?

[Reply #1 on:]

could i just load the blink sketch on its own on say a uno or mega ?

Yes, no problem, but you will overwrite the bootloader.
The advantage of the bootloader is that you don't need a programmer, instead you can upload sketches through a serial connection

[Reply #2 on:]

Yes. And even using the Arduino IDE (upload using programmer option in the files menu) you can upload sketches to a chip not using a bootloader at all. However that does require the use of a 'hardware programmer' that the arduino IDE can use shown in the tools programmer menu. But of course one of the programmer options is just using a arduino board loaded with the arduinoISP sketch which is then wired to the 'target chip' to be programmed.

Lefty

[Reply #3 on:]

None of them need a bootloader.

All were designed for ISP programming first, bootloading second (if at all...)

[Reply #4 on:]

If you are a hobbyist, and you don't want to buy a programmer and you want to save the trouble of configuring and learning to use the programmer...  The bootloader is a beautiful thing!!!!.

I've used some other microcontrollers & microprocessors in the past, and I was amazed that I could install the IDE and get the "Blink LED" example running in 5 minutes!   With a lot of other platforms, that process could have taken a whole day.   

With the Aruino being it's own self-programmer and is it's own development board, and you've saved a ton of time and money compared to starting from scratch.

[Reply #5 on:]

If you are a hobbyist, and you don't want to buy a programmer and you want to save the trouble of configuring and learning to use the programmer...  The bootloader is a beautiful thing!!!!.

I've used some other microcontrollers & microprocessors in the past, and I was amazed that I could install the IDE and get the "Blink LED" example running in 5 minutes!   With a lot of other platforms, that process could have taken a whole day.   

With the Aruino being it's own self-programmer and is it's own development board, and you've saved a ton of time and money compared to starting from scratch.

I mostly agree. Having a bootloader on a arduino development board is very convenient and overall the best way to upload sketches via the IDE. However using an ISP programmer to work with AVR chips you build into standalone projects is often the simplest way to go. And now that an arduino board can be used as a hardware programmer there is no financial choice to make, use either method best suited to what you are doing at the moment in your project(s).

Lefty