For a program I had to wire up two 7 segment displays with 2 shift registers with 2 push buttons and hook it up to the arduino uno board. Every time you press one button the number count will go up by 1 and every time you press the other button the number count will go down by 1. I need help with the basics of programming this. Thank you
So why do you need shift-registers?
To minimize the amount of arduino digital pins used. Would it be a lot easier without shift registers?
Nick has an excellent page on the subject.
Seven Segment Display chips are different than just LED's though in coding. I'm having trouble with how to light them when the button is pressed.
Different in what sense? All you do is light the individual segments in a particular pattern.
What code have you got so far?
Your problem breaks down into manageable pieces. Read a switch state - trivial. Increment or decrement a value - trivial. Display the tens value on a seven segment display - trivial to get the value; the only challenge is lighting the correct segments. Displaying the ones value on the other seven segment display - trivial to get the value; the only challenge is lighting the correct segments.
Dealing with the seven segment displays is easy (easier) if the pin numbers are in an array. Then, you can write a function to display n on the display connected to the pins in array 1 or to display n on the pins in array 2.
So, which part of the program are you having issues with? What have you been able to do?