Whenever this gets asked (in other places) I don't know why the =20
answers/debate seem to be about the hardware board.  Perhaps because =20
they think of the board as the Arduino, when it's really a full =20
system, which includes the IDE, etc.

IMO it's really the ease of use.  From the start, you extract the =20
software and it's ready to run.  No lengthy install procedure with =20
questions asking if you want to install various options, which you =20
can't answer because you haven't learned what those mean yet, nor what =20
the consequences of any of the choices would be.  Then there's really =20
no development environment to learn.  With any other processor, you =20
have to read through the datasheet to figure out how to set the fuses =20
and whether CONFIG is really _CONFIG or __CONFIG CONFIG1, etc.  It's =20
all done for you already.  With the Arduino, it's straight to =20
programming C/C++.  (This is similar why I veer towards C on Linux =20
when I need to program anything -- I can write code in a text file and =20
simply gcc it.  With any of the "modern" compilers there's a lot of =20
the dev environment to learn before I can see anything work).  Then =20
there's the thing where examples are "built into" the IDE, so you can =20
load the blink-LED program, and run it and watch it work, then start =20
tweaking to learn coding from there.

On the hardware side, the built-in bootloader makes things very =20
simple, so no need for a programmer, with specific lines to figure out =20
-- USB is simple enough for anyone to connect.  The board itself is =20
nothing fancy and lots of PIC or other development boards are better =20
IMO.  However, the standard for the pluggable shields does make the =20
interconnections very easy for the non-hardware folks.

To me it's really about being able to get up and running without =20
having to read tons of stuff first.  For any non-hardware person using =20
this, it's very simple.

On the not-so-bright side, that IMO is a new problem itself... that =20
there's a lot of bad designs out there because software people managed =20
to get things to work without following proper hardware design, and =20
now other Arduino newbies take that as gospel.  I've had to stop my =20
robokids from doing things (wiring certain things in certain ways) =20
they found on the internet and accepted as the right way, because it =20
was published.

Cheers,
-Neil.


Quoting jana1972@centrum.cz:

> Hi,
> Can anyone explain, why Arduino became so popular?
> I think there are many similar products these days
>
> Was Arduino  the first such product at the market?
> Did it have a good support?
> Was it easy tu use?
> Or was there a good support from ATMEL  :-) .
>  I heard that there was
> good free C++ cross compiler and the Microchip's good compiler cost a for=
tune
>
>
>
> Or any others reason ?
>
> L.
> --
> http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive
> View/change your membership options at
> http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist
>



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