Getting started with microcontroller programming

Posted by Trix on Stack Overflow See other posts from Stack Overflow or by Trix
Published on 2010-05-16T12:24:26Z Indexed on 2010/05/16 12:30 UTC
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beginner

I'm a fairly good programmer, knowledgeable in C, C++, Python, Ruby and PHP. I'd like to get started with microcontroller programming.

I do know nothing about this topic.

Microcontrollers are minimal computers on little circuit boards, right?
I'm pretty new to electronics too, do I need to be an expert in it to do stuff with microcontrollers?
What can I do with them? Would e.g.: A Pacman or Tetris game on an LCD be possible and not too hard?
Where should I start?

Basically I want to program something really small I can then take with me. This is my only real goal. Are microcontrollers the right thing for this, or are there better solutions?

I'd like to do this for fun and as a hobby, I don't want to become a professional in it.

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