element14 Community
element14 Community
    Register Log In
  • Site
  • Search
  • Log In Register
  • Community Hub
    Community Hub
    • What's New on element14
    • Feedback and Support
    • Benefits of Membership
    • Personal Blogs
    • Members Area
    • Achievement Levels
  • Learn
    Learn
    • Ask an Expert
    • eBooks
    • element14 presents
    • Learning Center
    • Tech Spotlight
    • STEM Academy
    • Webinars, Training and Events
    • Learning Groups
  • Technologies
    Technologies
    • 3D Printing
    • FPGA
    • Industrial Automation
    • Internet of Things
    • Power & Energy
    • Sensors
    • Technology Groups
  • Challenges & Projects
    Challenges & Projects
    • Design Challenges
    • element14 presents Projects
    • Project14
    • Arduino Projects
    • Raspberry Pi Projects
    • Project Groups
  • Products
    Products
    • Arduino
    • Avnet & Tria Boards Community
    • Dev Tools
    • Manufacturers
    • Multicomp Pro
    • Product Groups
    • Raspberry Pi
    • RoadTests & Reviews
  • About Us
    About the element14 Community
  • Store
    Store
    • Visit Your Store
    • Choose another store...
      • Europe
      •  Austria (German)
      •  Belgium (Dutch, French)
      •  Bulgaria (Bulgarian)
      •  Czech Republic (Czech)
      •  Denmark (Danish)
      •  Estonia (Estonian)
      •  Finland (Finnish)
      •  France (French)
      •  Germany (German)
      •  Hungary (Hungarian)
      •  Ireland
      •  Israel
      •  Italy (Italian)
      •  Latvia (Latvian)
      •  
      •  Lithuania (Lithuanian)
      •  Netherlands (Dutch)
      •  Norway (Norwegian)
      •  Poland (Polish)
      •  Portugal (Portuguese)
      •  Romania (Romanian)
      •  Russia (Russian)
      •  Slovakia (Slovak)
      •  Slovenia (Slovenian)
      •  Spain (Spanish)
      •  Sweden (Swedish)
      •  Switzerland(German, French)
      •  Turkey (Turkish)
      •  United Kingdom
      • Asia Pacific
      •  Australia
      •  China
      •  Hong Kong
      •  India
      •  Japan
      •  Korea (Korean)
      •  Malaysia
      •  New Zealand
      •  Philippines
      •  Singapore
      •  Taiwan
      •  Thailand (Thai)
      •  Vietnam
      • Americas
      •  Brazil (Portuguese)
      •  Canada
      •  Mexico (Spanish)
      •  United States
      Can't find the country/region you're looking for? Visit our export site or find a local distributor.
  • Translate
  • Profile
  • Settings
Embedded and Microcontrollers
  • Technologies
  • More
Embedded and Microcontrollers
Embedded Forum New to embedded systems
  • Blog
  • Forum
  • Documents
  • Quiz
  • Polls
  • Files
  • Members
  • Mentions
  • Sub-Groups
  • Tags
  • More
  • Cancel
  • New
Join Embedded and Microcontrollers to participate - click to join for free!
Actions
  • Share
  • More
  • Cancel
Forum Thread Details
  • Replies 7 replies
  • Subscribers 481 subscribers
  • Views 823 views
  • Users 0 members are here
  • Black
  • BeagleBone
  • arm
Related

New to embedded systems

Former Member
Former Member over 11 years ago

I've got no idea if this is the right place to post this; the options available are too limited.

 

I've been watching the Ben Heck Show for a couple months and it's hard to follow sometimes having no knowledge of this stuff. I recently decided that it's important for me to learn arm, c and asm so I spent money I didn't really have on a BBB rev C and absolutely cannot afford things like a breadboard or wires and LEDs and such. I am posting here for two reasons: I cannot find a resource that teaches me about all these parts and pieces and I also need to know if there is a place where poor people can buy good cheap equipment to learn with.. I entered the contest for the cool parts bundle and the computer but there's no way to tell if I'll win and I'd like to have somewhere to go if I don't. I'm not really even sure what general term is assigned to things like breadboards, transistors, etc

 

If someone can help me I would certainly appreciate it.

  • Sign in to reply
  • Cancel

Top Replies

  • gadget.iom
    gadget.iom over 11 years ago +1
    Want to learn ARM you say.... Welcome to HELL
  • amgalbu
    amgalbu over 11 years ago +1
    If you can't afford real hwardware, you can start experimenting using simulators like LTSpice or similar... Regarding the software, there are plenty of free tools for any programming language you want…
  • jomoenginer
    jomoenginer over 11 years ago +1
    Nick, There is a ton of info on the subject of Embedded Systems on the web and YouTube as well as in these forums I image. I'm not sure what your goals are, but if you are looking to learn ARM and C as…
  • gadget.iom
    gadget.iom over 11 years ago

    Want to learn ARM you say....

    Welcome to HELL image

    • Cancel
    • Vote Up +1 Vote Down
    • Sign in to reply
    • Cancel
  • element14support
    element14support over 11 years ago

    Hello nc0,

    Welcome to the element14 Community! I will move this over to the Embedded area as it is a better fit.

     

    Thank you,

     

    Jamie

    • Cancel
    • Vote Up 0 Vote Down
    • Sign in to reply
    • Cancel
  • clem57
    clem57 over 11 years ago

    Nick,

         If you have no background in programming, I would look at Scratch as a quick introduction. Here you can develop skills in logic. It was developed by MIT to be visual based rather than syntax based. It can run on MCU like the Beagleboard Black and Raspberry Pi. Check it out. If you want a more challenging language, try Python. It is a scripting language and runs on virtually any machine including Windows, Mac, Linux like BBB>

     

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scratch_(programming_language)

     

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Python_(programming_language)

     

    Hint: Google is your friend to explore for more on these and other topics. But beware of information overload. Best off set a goal that interests you and preserver.

     

    Welcome to electronics,

    Clem

    • Cancel
    • Vote Up 0 Vote Down
    • Sign in to reply
    • Cancel
  • clem57
    clem57 over 11 years ago in reply to clem57

    @Nick Casey

         I just took a look at Learn to code | Codecademy and they have a good class for Python too

     

    Clem

    • Cancel
    • Vote Up 0 Vote Down
    • Sign in to reply
    • Cancel
  • amgalbu
    amgalbu over 11 years ago

    If you can't afford real hwardware, you can start experimenting using simulators like LTSpice or similar...

    Regarding the software, there are plenty of free tools for any programming language you want to learn!! That's the power of open source community!

    • Cancel
    • Vote Up +1 Vote Down
    • Sign in to reply
    • Cancel
  • jomoenginer
    jomoenginer over 11 years ago

    Nick,

     

      There is a ton of info on the subject of Embedded Systems on the web and YouTube as well as in these forums I image.   I'm not sure what your goals are, but if you are looking to learn ARM and C as well as perhaps Assembly, then you might have a look at the books by Jonathan Valvano, in particular Introduction to ARM Cortex-M Microcontrollers. He uses the inexpensive TI Tiva-C Launchpad boards ($12-$14US) and pretty much covers what you are looking for. Also, not to be plugging him too much, but Valvano and Ramesh Yerraballi are teaching a Embedded Systems - Shape the World course via edX that is free. This covers the basics and progress to some fairly advanced topics.

     

    Many of the IDEs such as Kei uVision and IAR Embedded Workbench have simulators build in so you could code and test without a board. 

     

    Good Luck,

     

    Jon

    • Cancel
    • Vote Up +1 Vote Down
    • Sign in to reply
    • Cancel
  • clem57
    clem57 over 11 years ago in reply to jomoenginer

    @nc0

    @jomoenginer

      I am taking Embedded Systems - Shape the World course via edX and can say it is a challenging good course. The best is a forum with many thousands of people learning and questioning together with help from the instructors. Even though it started 2-3 weeks ago, I believe you can still enroll since all work must be completed by mid May 2015.

     

    Cheers,

    Clem

    • Cancel
    • Vote Up 0 Vote Down
    • Sign in to reply
    • Cancel
element14 Community

element14 is the first online community specifically for engineers. Connect with your peers and get expert answers to your questions.

  • Members
  • Learn
  • Technologies
  • Challenges & Projects
  • Products
  • Store
  • About Us
  • Feedback & Support
  • FAQs
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Legal and Copyright Notices
  • Sitemap
  • Cookies

An Avnet Company © 2026 Premier Farnell Limited. All Rights Reserved.

Premier Farnell Ltd, registered in England and Wales (no 00876412), registered office: Farnell House, Forge Lane, Leeds LS12 2NE.

ICP 备案号 10220084.

Follow element14

  • X
  • Facebook
  • linkedin
  • YouTube