Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsA well-organized Book: Simple and Practical
Reviewed in the United States on December 1, 2019
I preordered this book several months ago, which was supposed to come out in September, but the wait was worth it. I was looking for a book to learn Arduino, and this book was recommended to me by an engineer. Although I am far from finishing the book (at the time that I wrote this review) I will talk about it in the little time that I've had it.
This book is easy to follow. It assumes that you have some or very little knowledge about electronics/programming, an example of that is when it explains how to pick an LED resistor, which is of course pretty basic stuff. Nonetheless, this doesn't get boring at all for those who already have some experience as each chapter gets more challenging and encourages you to apply what you have learned on each exercise. And at the end of chapter 4, you will know how to make a light driven robot! (As a matter of fact, it's pictured on the cover of the book) As we progress throughout the book, the author introduces technical terms, baud rate or duty cycle for instance, however, he explains them in a very easy way in terms of practicality.
At the beginning of each chapter, there is a list of the parts that you need to complete each exercise as well as a short overview of what to expect further ahead. Likewise, the author advises you to check his website to find extra resources and updates to the book. The latter is important since he explicitly states that there could be errors in the book that were missed. However, with time I guess they will be fixed in new printings. I personally haven't had any problems with the code so far. I have to mention that the color diagrams are definitely a huge help since they are easy to follow and make the learning process more enjoyable.
Overall this is a great book that I wish I had when I was younger. I definitely will be buying more books from this author.
Contents in the book:
- PART I: Arduino Engineering Basics
1 - Getting Started and Understanding the Arduino Landscape.
2 - Digital Inputs, Outputs, and Pulse-Width Modulation.
3 - Interfacing with Analog Sensors
- PART II: Interfacing with Your Environment
4 - Using Transistors and Driving DC Motors
5 - Driving Stepper and Servo Motors
6 - Making Sounds and Music
7 - USB Serial Communication
8 - Emulating USB Devices
9 - Shift Registers
- PART III: Communication Interfaces
10 - The I2C Bus
11 - The SPI Bus and Third-Party Libraries
12 - Interfacing with Liquid Crystal Displays.
- PART IV: Digging Deeper and Combining Functions
13 - Interrupts and Other Special Functions
14 - Data Logging with SD Cards.
- PART V: Going Wireless
15 - Wireless RF Communications
16 - Bluetooth Connectivity
17 - Wi-Fi and the Cloud
Appendix A: Deciphering Datasheets and Schematics.
