by pebe » Fri Jan 23, 2015 12:24 pm
Most hobbyists tend to use either the PIC range (by MicroChip) or the Arduino range. Of those, I have only used PICs and these are some of its advantages. No doubt, other members can advise you about Arduinos
1. All PICs have an inbuilt oscillator, so you can make many programs just using the stand-alone PIC.
2. The range goes from a simple version with 6 pins and 4 in/out ports, to multiple 8bit ports.
3. Any version from 8pin upwards can have:-
a) On-board eeprom to save data into.
b) One or more D/A converters and comparators.
c) Ports capable of driving LEDs (20mA max).
d) An optional external oscillator.
4. All sizes now have 'flash' erasing and programming (no need for UV erasers).
There is a free programming editor from MicroChip that covers all PICs and allows for programming in Assembly or in 'C' language. There are many inexpensive 'programming' devices on Ebay that enable you to transfer your written program into the PIC chip. These cover most or all of the PIC variants you use. So once you have downloaded the free software from MicroChip and bought a programmer, all you need is one or more PIC chips to play with.
There are many tutorials on-line that talk you through the process of making simple circuits.
I hope that has helped you.