So I was talking with a friend, and asked if he had ever used a 4051 analog mux in his projects (he hasn't used Arduino). He replied he recalls he has used a 7451, the TTL equivalent.
I always liked TTL as a kid, since it was an indestructable kind of package, and had the impression that CMOS was much more sensitive to accidental damage (whether that's true or not) by overpowering or static or whatever mistakes newbies make.
But now that I'm trying electronics again, I'm revisiting that old and hazily-understood question: what's better for use with Arduino, and what's the best place to read up on the differences from that perspective?
TTL technology didn't scale to the sort of performance people expect today, and almost all logic is based on CMOS. Modern CMOS is not quite as sensitive as some of the old-style CMOS. (and a 7451 is not the same as a 4051; you can't even do the 4051 (analog mux) function in ttl technology...)
There was/is no correlation between the 74xx numbers and the 40xx numbers, although there were/are some 74xx40xx chips (implemented in some of the CMOS families with 74 part numbers, like 74c4051, and there is even a current 74hc4051)
I thought TI had a nice guide describing the differences between their different logic families (all 40-odd. 6 are non-CMOS), but I can't find it.
The most common "modern" logic families compatible with arduino (ie 5V power supply) are 74hc, 74hct, 74ac, and 74act
