Beginning C for Arduino, Second Edition: Learn C Programming for the Arduino

After a 15 year hiatus from being a professional software developer and ham radio, I decided (at the urging of a couple of longtime friends) to get back into both. I purchased a QRP radio kit controlled by one of the Arduino processors. Subsequently, I decided to build a magnetic loop antenna to go with it. That required programming yet another Arduino to control it. Jack's book looked like just what I needed to bring myself back up to speed. It was! I still have my old copy of Kerrnigan and Ritchie left over from my days at BTL, but although that covers all aspects of the "C" language, it is one of the hardest to read books on the subject ever. Jack's book on the other hand is easy to read (print could be bigger for us old folks); he thoroughly explains the concepts and provides real-world examples. Through this book, I was able to get myself back to my old form in just a week or so! Not to say that this isn't a great book for those who have never written a line of code in their lives; it most certainly is. Looking forward to more; maybe "C++"?

I'm still working through this book to brush up on my C skills so I can better use the Arduino for ham radio projects. Even though I'm only about 1/2 way through this book, I have to say it's probably the best C book I've ever read. I'm not a professional developer who can sneeze and have 1000 lines of source code come out. Instead, I've mainly used C periodically through my career for debugging software problems. I wish I'd had this book 25 years ago when I read my first K&R book and took my first C class. The C I learned early on never seemed to "stick" with me to where it was2nd nature and I always seemed to stumble when reading through the code. This book is changing that. The reason I'm only 1/2 way through the book is I'm taking Jack's recommendation to work through it purposefully and todo all the exercises (for supplemental help, I'm also working through exercises in an Arduino starter kit course). Jack is a great instructor and things are finally starting to sink in. He has an ability to take confusing topics and make them clear. For the first time, I'm clearly understanding pointers, casting, data types, etc. Jack has the ability to explain difficult subjects of what's going on under the C hood through his clever use of analogies (like the backpack and the bucket). I'm thoroughly enjoying the book and look forward to the 2nd half. This book is great for beginners with no knowledge of C and also for those who know C but need a refresher or another look at things. Since this book is so good, I'm going to purchase any of Jack's other books I can find on ham radio and Arduino programming (I know of at least one). Great book! I can highly recommend it!

I'm working on an Arduino project, and it turns out that I don't know C/C++ as well as I thought that I did. I got tired of wading through the responses on Stackoverflow or on the Arduino forum, and so far, this book has been really useful for describing how C works and answering general questions. I like the descriptions of how the compiler works since my text-based programming experience has been in interpreted languages like Python and Ruby.My criticisms concern the eBook. The code inserted in the text is not formatted well. There are many blank lines between the lines of code, so that the code snippet will extend over multiple pages when it should take up much less space. This affects the readability of the code and should really be fixed. Also, the index at the end of the book doesn't have links to the pages or even page numbers. This can be frustrating. The index appears to be just a list of terms, but there's no way to know where those terms are introduced in the book. For instance, I wanted to see what the author had to say about '#define' statements. There is an entry in the index but no link. If I try to search on #define, the search function ignores the '#' and I get hundreds of hits on 'define'.I'd like electronic versions of books to be useful, but I usually regret buying them. I'd probably but the physical book if I had known of these issues.

Absolutely the best book on programming Arduino on the market. I have purchased several books on Arduino. When I say several, I have just about all the ones that I can find for my kindle. The author of this book, teaches in such a way that you just get it. I have read this book cover to cover twice and used it for reference more times than I can count. Where other books do a good job and teach you enough to blink some LED's. This book teaches you the full power that C and C++ has to offer. Even teaching the power of using pointers! I highly recommend this book. Get this book and read it and stop and do the examples as you go. Make sure you fully understand what is going on before moving to the next chapter. Do this and this book will teach you how to write programs for the Arduino that you never knew possible!

This is an excellently written programming manual. It may be more in-depth than some readers would prefer, but it provides a solid basis for understanding programming concepts in general and the specific nuances of C for the Arduino. I think it strikes the perfect balance of being solidly factual and having an accessible, conversational tone. Reading it gives me the feeling of being in a college classroom with a first-rate professor who knows his subject matter in absolute detail and who understands how to effectively teach it. There are a few editing flaws, but in general, this is the best written technical manual I’ve read for a long time. But understand that it’s an in-depth study of programming concepts.

I have been playing about with Arduino projects for many years, yet still struggled to understand some simple concepts. My mistake was following code snippets from various websites, so I decided to dedicate some time to learn from the ground up. This book has given me a really firm understanding of basic C programing concepts and also deepened my understanding of the Arduino internals. The author has a very engaging informal style and I would definitely recommend it for new users of the Arduino - just be prepared to set aside a few weeks and slowly progress through the text and exercises - it will be worth the effort. As pointed out in the reviews, the index could be better, but aside from that this is a book I will come back to again and again.Update 2021: I'm now doing a postgraduate course in embedded systems engineering, and I am still coming back to the book to refresh on the key concepts.....an excellent resource to have.

Excellent book gave me they information i needed to program my project and a few more to come.

Well written with understandable detail, and an easy to follow style. Good job, well done.

It really gets you deep in the world of programming in arduino with examples and very well explained in all subjetcs

Ein sehr schönes Buch für Leute wie mich, die das Ganze als Hobby aus Spaß an der Freud betreiben. Flott zu lesen, schöner Schreibstil, immer gut zu verstehen und mit vielen Beispielen versehen. Ein Buch, das mir schon viel Freude gemacht hat und immer noch macht. Aus meiner Sicht sehr empfehlenswert.