What is good visual/graphical programming language for Arduino newbie?
I wan't to do home automation type of stuff not animations or games. Sketch is mostly for animations/games?
mBlock - updated lately
Ardublock - old
Minibloq - old
S4A - don't work with many boards?
Visuino - don't work with Mac yet
Any other worth to mention?
What is good visual/graphical programming language for Arduino newbie?
The best tool is not to use a drag-some-blocks-around tool. Learn to write code using a text editor.
PaulS:
The best tool is not to use a drag-some-blocks-around tool. Learn to write code using a text editor.
Thanks, but i want to try these things.
Fancy and pretty is nice.
Maybe you should put your efforts into the code rather than eye candy.
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(deleted)
spycatcher2k:
Then try them!
Amybody know any other app like this which is regularly updated and is suitable for Arduino home automation projects?
IvonneBenett:
What is good visual/graphical programming language for Arduino newbie?I wan't to do home automation type of stuff not animations or games. Sketch is mostly for animations/games?
mBlock - updated lately
Ardublock - old
Minibloq - old
S4A - don't work with many boards?
Visuino - don't work with Mac yetAny other worth to mention?
Only the mblock seems still current? I went there and it looks like it needs the PC to run. Maybe I'm wrong but on a quick look at the examples the Arduino is always a PC appendage.
If you take some time to learn basic C code and then an event-drive/real-time approach (idea is simpler than it sounds) shown here are on other sites then home automation will be in your reach, no maybe about it.
But... don't learn just a little C and write an opus unless you like to waste time. Learn about the variables, arrays and loops and logic structures (if-else, switch-case) just to save time and your typing fingers.
Do simple little code things to learn and practice/play to learn well what you can do and then think and dream and plan and discuss with understanding how to go from turning leds on and off to air conditioners, heaters, vents and all the things you want to include in your automation symphony.
Here you can get help on every step. Best thing at start is to identify what you know and figure out how big a step to take then work toward that. You can go from total beginner to dangerous in months of a few hours a week, just how many depends on how keen/interested you are about it.
OTOH if all you care about are results and learning is too much like work then you have a problem for sure.
GoForSmoke:
Only the mblock seems still current? I went there and it looks like it needs the PC to run. Maybe I'm wrong but on a quick look at the examples the Arduino is always a PC appendage.If you take some time to learn basic C code and then an event-drive/real-time approach (idea is simpler than it sounds) shown here are on other sites then home automation will be in your reach, no maybe about it.
But... don't learn just a little C and write an opus unless you like to waste time. Learn about the variables, arrays and loops and logic structures (if-else, switch-case) just to save time and your typing fingers.
Do simple little code things to learn and practice/play to learn well what you can do and then think and dream and plan and discuss with understanding how to go from turning leds on and off to air conditioners, heaters, vents and all the things you want to include in your automation symphony.Here you can get help on every step. Best thing at start is to identify what you know and figure out how big a step to take then work toward that. You can go from total beginner to dangerous in months of a few hours a week, just how many depends on how keen/interested you are about it.
OTOH if all you care about are results and learning is too much like work then you have a problem for sure.
Thanks. mBlock works in Mac.
Where i can find super simple instructions which teach one small coding thing at a time?
For instance how to blink led, how to do if then else, how to read pin.
It is in examples, part of IDE or here https://www.arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/BuiltInExamples.
If you're using the Arduino IDE(http://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/Software) it has things kind of like that under File > Examples. There are tutorial pages for each example at https://www.arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/BuiltInExamples. You should start with File > Examples > 01.Basics > BareMinimum and then File > Examples > 01.Basics > Blink. You can find more information on what each line of those programs do by looking up the commands at Arduino - Home.
IvonneBenett:
Thanks. mBlock works in Mac.
My concern for your use is if it only works through the PC.
For home automation you may want the Arduino to run by itself.
You want to pick some or all the Examples in sections 1, 2, 3 and 5.
Section 4 will teach you to use String variables that will give problems when your code gets beyond trivial little lessons. We get to see those in the forum every so often, it's a regular thing.
You can get help with text here, String is C++ but in plain C there are strings (no capital like String) that are basic with commands that at first the names look confusing but they make sense once you see that "str" means "string" and "cat" means concatenation (adding to the end) so that "strcat()" means string concatenation that adds one bit of text to the end of another. Yes, there are lots of those for lots of uses but they form a logical set to do all kinds of text manipulation and you can start with just a few or none of them.
Did I write that you can do text work knowing none of those? Yes I did. That's because the text itself is in an array of type char variables with the end marked by a char == 0. You can change the values directly to change the text.
It's not fall-down simple but neither is text manipulation and you have full control this way.
C++ String seems simpler but they hide how they work (do things behind your back) and make it hard to get at your data directly. They trash your RAM and eat cpu cycles doing it (a behind your back thing), they are 'fat' (use extra RAM) and while they're fine when you have loads of RAM, please consider that an Uno only has 2048 bytes of RAM for everything your code does.
When we see problems from use of String it's usually "strange crashes" that the user has spent hours trying to trace and debug. The behind your back cause doesn't show up in the logic until the user learns what String does.
I tell you this to hopefully save you from going down the easier-looking path for beginners. IMO it is harder to learn then unlearn a lesson just to learn another than to learn the suitable way first time instead. Please don't let this scare you! You won't need much any of this until you start to do much with text, way more than printing simple messages.
Lastly, there is loads of Learning help right on the Arduino site. That green bar at the top of the Forum page has dropdown menus for Products, Learning, and Support. Learning has links to what you want and more. I keep a whole set of bookmarks to the major sections, there is a whole BOOK worth of material to take you from beginner to experienced subjects.
The tutorial Examples are shown with wiring diagrams, your IDE has the code, you can open the Example page in your browser window next to your IDE window and have both at the same time. Big draw for old-eyes, you can zoom any of it to make it easy to see. Many times I have coded Arduino while keeping my browser up with tabs on the references I need from the Arduino site and elsewhere on the web. It's really good that way.
GoForSmoke:
Lastly, there is loads of Learning help right on the Arduino site. That green bar at the top of the Forum page has dropdown menus for Products, Learning, and Support. Learning has links to what you want and more. I keep a whole set of bookmarks to the major sections, there is a whole BOOK worth of material to take you from beginner to experienced subjects.The tutorial Examples are shown with wiring diagrams, your IDE has the code, you can open the Example page in your browser window next to your IDE window and have both at the same time. Big draw for old-eyes, you can zoom any of it to make it easy to see. Many times I have coded Arduino while keeping my browser up with tabs on the references I need from the Arduino site and elsewhere on the web. It's really good that way.
Thanks for your help.
IvonneBenett:
What is good visual/graphical programming language for Arduino newbie?I wan't to do home automation type of stuff not animations or games. Sketch is mostly for animations/games?
mBlock - updated lately
Ardublock - old
Minibloq - old
S4A - don't work with many boards?
Visuino - don't work with Mac yetAny other worth to mention?
Hey IvonneBenett,
You should try this
A tad late to the party, but I am posting just for those interested. You can also have a look at our fork of Ardublockly for a visual editor for Arduino. We will be shortly releasing an alpha version along with Blynk.
Some people like to code, for me I would rather like to spend that time working on new projects.
When your program grows beyond a few hundred lines, you’ll want to start breaking your code into logical parts, there is where Strong Visual software comes in handy.
In my experience Visuino is by far the most developed visual program that is constantly updated with new components, not only that you can create projects fast, but the generated code is highly professional made.
For all of the folks ignoring your question and recommending you "just" learn python, they should step back and consider the interconnected digital world around them and be aware of the fact that some of us are multi-disciplinary creators who are using dozens of technologies and disciplines to do our work and it's not always pragmatic to stop and go deep on every single tool. It's the equivalent of me asking you where I can buy a good tractor and you reminding me that most of the work of the tractor can just be done by hand.
Are you in advertising?
