Beginning Arduino Programming

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6 responses to “Beginning Arduino Programming”

1. 

   Longhorn

   February 1, 2014

   25 of 26 people found the following review helpful

   
   Good book, November 3, 2011

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   Longhorn (AZ) –

   Amazon Verified Purchase(What’s this?)

   This review is from: Beginning Arduino Programming (Paperback)

   This is a good book to learn the structure, syntax and instruction set for the Arduino programming language. I wouldn’t recommend it as the first book for someone who knows absolutely nothing about writing programs in a high level language but it is great for someone who perhaps used basic, fortran or some other structured language in the past. With a little prior knowledge you will quickly pick up on the basics of the Arduino language and will be off and running in short order. The examples are excellent and the author clearly walks the reader thru what is happening and why. It was a perfect first book for me to get started programming Arduino but as I noted, I have had some prior experience.

   Cons: 1) Author uses some pretty fancy code to illustrate a point at times. He is trying to demonstrate how to use some of the powerful statements of the language but it may confuse a newby. 2) Doesn’t comment his source. A nice feature but in his defense, he does a good job explaining the code in the text. 3) Doesn’t include much in the way of language reference which is really what I wanted in a beginning book (e.g., a complete list of statements, syntax, etc. in a appendix).

   Good book for the right reader!!

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2. 

   Mark

   February 1, 2014

   10 of 10 people found the following review helpful

   
   Great book for a beginner, provides good structure and explanation, July 26, 2012

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   Mark –

   Amazon Verified Purchase(What’s this?)

   This review is from: Beginning Arduino Programming (Paperback)

   I taught an introductory Physical Computing course recently, and I evaluated several Arduino books before selecting this book as a primary resource for my students. I chose it because:
   1) It does not require any previous programming experience (the biology major who had never programmed in her life picked up programming just fine).
   2) The sequence of topics it follows feels logical to me. It walks through various aspects of the physical, electronic side of Arduino development, and it introduces relevant programming topics as it goes in natural places.
   3) It does a good job of *teaching programming*. Several books either assume you know the basics already or else provide more of a dry reference than actual explanation of programming concepts. The explanations in this book are good.

   And it worked quite well. The book is well-written and clear, with good examples used throughout. It does not serve as a reference, but that is what the large amount of online Arduino resources are for (you can easily get to most just from the main Arduino site: […] I pointed my students to those resources, and the book then provided a good structure to guide their exploration, referring to other references as needed. (“The book introduces PWM here? I see… Yes, that makes sense. Now let’s go to the language reference to get a precise description of each PWM function.”) And it provides that structure very well. This book, paired with free online resources (and either a knowledgeable teacher/friend or an account on an Arduino forum to ask questions), is a very good way for a beginner to get into the Arduino.

   As the book is dedicated to programming, it does not get into the electronics side of physical computing as much as it could. That said, the chapter on the basics of electricity and electronics was a very clear primer on all of the important concepts. And like I said, I wanted a book that taught programming well, as I believe that is the more difficult side of physical computing, by far, for a beginner.

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3. 

   Steven J. Greenfield “EET”

   February 1, 2014

   6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

   
   Does not assume prior C/C++ experience, May 6, 2012

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   Steven J. Greenfield “EET” (Tacoma, WA United States) –
   
     

   Amazon Verified Purchase(What’s this?)

   This review is from: Beginning Arduino Programming (Paperback)

   Unlike some others, this book does not require previous C/C++ programming experience. It does help to have some knowledge of programming in general.

   The code is not commented, but it is talked about in the text. I found it an interesting exercise to commment it myself.

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4. 

   @chrisegg

   February 1, 2014

   1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

   
   Not just for the beginner!, February 28, 2012

   By 

   @chrisegg –

   This review is from: WordPress 3 For Business Bloggers (Paperback)

   Even after 5 years of WordPress learning and developing, this book is a great resource. It breaks down the elements a newbie will need to be successful at tackling WordPress, and at the same time provide enough education and resources that even an advanced user can benefit from reading it. The use of screenshots and a case study tremendously aids the reader, improving comprehension and application. I’d recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn more about WordPress, and to any business interested in improving their business blogging strategy! Feel free to read my full review of this book here,(…)

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5. 

   Jonathan Christopher

   February 1, 2014

   1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

   
   Full of information, great for newcomers, February 20, 2012

   By 

   Jonathan Christopher –

   This review is from: WordPress 3 For Business Bloggers (Paperback)

   I was surprised by WordPress 3 for Business Bloggers in a number of ways. I really liked the coverage and the pace of the book. I also liked that there was a case study used. There were points where I was taken aback by the technical detail reached, though. Those sections made up a big enough percentage of the book to bring it out of the `direct client recommendation’ level for me, but instead land in more of a `new WordPress consultant recommendation’ group. I would surely recommend the book to someone new(er) to WordPress, looking to become more familiar with how the application works on a more applicable level. There is also great information in the book that should be trickled down to clients, but in my opinion not directly. Instead I think this book is great for people who can act as a resource for their client by offering the information in their own words and be available to answer any additional questions that crop up. I’m really glad to have read this book and feel that it’s a great source of up-to-date information.

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6. 

   Michael

   February 1, 2014

   1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

   
   A Good Starter Kit, January 16, 2012

   By 

   Michael (Charleston, SC, United States) –

   This review is from: WordPress 3 For Business Bloggers (Paperback)

   WordPress is the most popular web software used for content management today. One of the reasons for this is the low barrier to getting started. WordPress is not only free, but it is easy to use and there are tons of resources available for theming and expanding the website. But, that ease of use and over abundance of resources can also work against the new user. While the first blog is quick to setup, where do you go from there? How do you make the site your site? How do you get people to visit, engage them once they are there, and get them to come back? And how do you even know about all this? These questions are what Paul Thewlis tries to answer in his book WordPress 3 For Business Bloggers. Note that this is a new and updated edition of his book that was published in 2008.

   Just a note that this book had the honor of being the first book I read on my new Kindle. One of the things I really like about books from Packt is that they are available in multiple formats including print, PDF, ePUB, and Amazon’s MOBI format. But, back to the book itself.

   WordPress 3 For Business Bloggers is well suited as an introduction to what can be done with a WordPress blog for most people. It succeeds in taking the new user beyond the initial install into the world of plug-ins and theme customization. While I am not really fond of the chapter on HTML and altering themes, I can see the necessity of familiarizing yourself with it. I just think that it is too much for most people and to prone to error. Seriously, you are better either in the hands of a real designer or finding a theme that doesn’t need behind the scenes tweaking.

   I do find that the plug-ins covered hit most of the major ones most folks will need. From Askimet for spam to All-In-One SEO for search engine optimization, and many more, Thewlis walks you through not only how to install and setup the plug-in, but why you are doing so and what result should be achieved. That in itself is probably the strongest trait of the book – it goes into the “whys” behind the “whats” and “hows”. In fact, this is one of the only books I have seen that really asks you to think about why you are using a blog. Early on Thewlis says, “a successful business blog is achieved by identifying strategic goals and applying these to the type of blog you are publishing.” That is something a lot of people – even highly paid web developers – miss. What is your goal, and how is your website or blog supposed to help you achieve that goal?

   Speaking of goals, there is also a very good introduction given to the analysis of traffic through tools such as Google Analytics, Alexa, and PageRank. These are all topics that can, and do, cover many books in themselves, but the introduction given here is good and will allow the reader go on and do more research having a solid foundation beneath them or be able to talk intelligently with an expert or consultant if they chose to do so. Most people will never need to go beyond what is taught in this book, but if you do, it is nice to know you are prepared.

   So, all-in-all I would recommend WordPress 3 For Business Bloggers for the people who want to take their blog or WordPress based website on to the next level but don’t know where to start. It can be intimidating when you don’t even know what questions to ask, and Thewlis gives solid exposure to most all areas so you can know where you want to dive deeper. The one thing I would warn against is getting tied up in details, such as the aforementioned theming, where you really don’t need to. Just read through those chapters for the background knowledge and move on.

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