Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)The authors have well and truly delivered what they've outlined as their goal in the Introduction section, namely "We want you to take these projects as inspiration and examples of how to apply a variety of handy techniques and then adapt them to suit your own requirements, coming up with new ideas that put ours to shame". Frankly I'm impressed with what Jonathan and Hugh have achieved. They've packed in an incredible amount of information in over 400 pages using 14 broad coverage real-world projects demonstrating how to put the Arduino to practical use. Importantly, they've included some succinct and relevant background information on basic electronic theory and implementation that will save readers days of frustration in getting their circuits working. Nothing kills off the excitement of working on projects than not being able to find why something won't work as intended. With Arduino projects, there is the added difficulty that 'bugs' could be in the software and/or hardware. Excellent title - Practical. Says it all.
I like the Contents at a Glance page in addition to the detailed Contents. Use the former to get you quickly to a project of interest or the detailed Contents to quickly search out techniques relevant to your latest brainstorm.
The included source code easy to read and well explained. Great to see it is also available on line - an essential requirement for this type of book.
Circuit diagrams (schematics) clear are easy to read. I support the authors' approach in encouraging readers to develop skills in reading these.
A useful index - I find it very annoying when books that are likely to be used as a reference omit one.
Do yourself a favour and read the Resources chapter first. Rather than a list of Internet references, this 27 page chapter contains practical tips on interfacing the Arduino with the outside world. An excellent walk-through on how to create an Arduino Library is also included to encourage you to share your solutions in accordance with the Open Source philosophy of the book and the Arduino platform.
The only disappointment was the quality of reproduction of many of the photographs; I assume the muddy contrast is the result of a compromise in the printing process. That said, the book price really is very good value for the range of material covered.
I have over a decade of experience in electronics design and manufacture with an international electronics company (Philips) and many years of experience in Engineering and IT Project Management. While I've enjoyed working with PCs as a hobby for nearly 30 years, I've only dabbled in programming. The Arduino has enabled me to rediscover the fun of electronics and develop my programming skills - I've been having fun with Arduinos for just one year. This book will give me inspiration for years to come.
Neil Matthews
B. Tech. Electronic Engineering, MBA
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The Arduino is growing in popularity. As a fast, low-cost, open source platform with an active development community, it is quickly surpassing the Basic Stamp as the platform of choice for physical computing enthusiasts. This book includes a broad range of intermediate to advanced projects specifically for the Arduino using the easy-to-learn Arduino language (based on the Processing programming language). Other works currently on the market target the beginner to intermediate levels, and may cover other boards rather than the Arduino.
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