Resources for your first steps with AVR C++ and writing awesome C 

The world of embedded devices is dominated by C and its derivatives, primarily C++. These days, very few people learn C as their first language. In most cases, a new Arduino maker will have learned BASIC or Python at school or the University.

In most cases, people will pick up the little C/C++ they need for their Arduino sketches from tutorials, by playing around. At some point though, they will hit a wall, meaning that doing any serious work with their Arduino will require some concentrated study of C and C++.

In this short post, I’d like to share a few resources that you can use to get your C/C++ skills to the “next level.”

If you are new to C, start with MIT’s How to Write Awesome C. This is a short tutorial that is written to help competitors in MIT’s Autonomous Robot Design competition.

Once you have a good grasp of C, you can move onto C++. If you wish to study C++ specifically to use with AVR microcontrollers, then you need to follow a two-step process. First, become familiar with the basics of C++ (you do not need to become an expert), and then become familiar with the C++’s AVR-specifics.

An excellent resource to learn about C++ is the C++ Language Tutorial. It covers basic concepts like variables, control structures, and classes. I recommend that you only read and learn about C++’s basic features because the AVR implementation of the language does not support most of the more advanced features.

Have a look at this article for information about what parts of C++ are available in AVR.

Then, you will be more prepared to look into the AVR C++, as documented by Atmel. Here’s is the source documentation. This document needs a lot of patience to read, but keep it in mind as a reference source. An excellent tutorial to help you get started programming an AVR microcontroller outside the Arduino environment is this one by Hackaday (go straight to Part 4).

I should probably write a guide about this topic soon, but until then, I hope these resources help. If you have been able to find other useful resources on these topics, please let me know, and I will include them here.

Happy Making!