arduino.cc

why are arduinos awesome?

Reasons:

1: Cost

2: Durability

3: Availability / Community

Cost

seeedstudio.com

adafruit.com

$20-32

Durability

Arduino is also very resilient. Drop it, smash it and it still stays alive. Add to that its low-power requirement, and the product becomes a must-have for DIYers. An Arduino can run on a 9V-battery for days.

~ Wired

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/07/hardware-hobbyists-arduino/

Simple

100% open source

-> cheap and easy to clone

Built-in IDE and development environment

AVAILABILITY

You can find Arduinos at RadioShack, lying around labs, etc.

Additionally, it's a standard platform, pinouts and cpu

So picking up another similar device is, well, similar.

Community

based off previous strengths, built strong community
software libraries, header boards, support forums
forum.arduino.cc

Where do I get started?

Install the IDE:

http://arduino.cc/en/Main/Software

Write some code & upload!

Key Code Concepts:

void setup

void loop

const int ledPin =  13;      // the number of the LED pin

void setup() {
  // initialize the LED pin as an output:
  pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT);      
}

void loop(){ 
  digitalWrite(ledPin, HIGH);  delay(1000);  digitalWrite(ledPin, LOW);  delay(1000);}