Do you dream of building robots, or at least digitally controlling your home’s appliances? The applications of microcontrollers are limitless! In this lesson, Jeremy Blum introduces you to Arduino—an open source platform microcontroller that is programmed with its own language (which is easier to learn than C). Learn what you’ll need to begin a project with Arduino (Jeremy uses Arduino Uno), how to install the software and update drivers, and how to create your first program.
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In this second lesson of the Arduino series, Jeremy Blum teaches you how to program using buttons and PWM pins. Follow along: you’ll need a breadboard, resistors, an LED, and a push button for this lesson. Learn how to install the pushbutton switch and the LED—once the circuit is set up, begin writing the program to control it. Finally, using a digital PWM pin, Jeremy demonstrates how to change the brightness of the LED when the button is pressed.
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In this third installment of his Arduino tutorial series, Jeremy discusses basic electrical engineering principles to help you get started. Beginning with Ohm’s Law, Jeremy covers resistors (used to control the amount of current going through an LED, for example) and how to calculate resistance, voltage dividers (used when dealing with analog inputs into a microcontroller) and potentiometers, and finally, voltage regulators (used to ensure that something draws enough current at a fixed voltage).
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Whether you use your machine for gaming, video and photo editing, or animation, maximize your resources by using a computer suited specifically to your needs. In this first of four videos from his series on how to build a computer, Carey Holzeman demonstrates that it’s really not that complicated. Get started by figuring out what hardware you’ll need (if you’re stumped, Carey’s got some recommendations for you) and learn how to connect the power supply.
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Now that you have all your hardware and you’ve installed the power supply in your case, you’re one step closer to finishing your custom computer. In this second part of the series, Carey walks you through the process of installing the optical drive and card reader before tackling the hard drive (which he demonstrates with a solid-state drive). Carey also creates a game plan before installing the drive to give you easiest access for future maintenance.
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The only thing left to install on your computer is the motherboard—don’t be intimidated by this intricate component! In this third part in the series from Carey Holzeman, learn how to install the memory and processor outside of the case, before moving on to the motherboard. Carey shows you how to expose the CPU socket on the board, how to connect the cooling fan and your RAM modules, then how to mount the motherboard and plug in all the cables.
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If you’ve done everything up to the point, you should be able to connect your SATA cables and fire up your computer, but you’ll need a monitor, keyboard, mouse, and some power cables to test it out (just make sure no cabling is interfering with the CPU fan). Finish up your machine by installing the operating system and the motherboard drivers; the process takes only a few minutes. Now that your machine can do everything you need it to, there’s nothing left to do but get to work—and enjoy it!
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Over time, parts break and failures occur—and that computer you built is no exception. So learn how to replace components like the internal memory card reader! In this lesson you’ll learn how to do this easy maintenance yourself, starting by powering off your machine, installing the new card reader, and finally re-assembling your computer. Your computer will be able to read cards again, and you’ll have the satisfaction of fixing your machine yourself.
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Javascript is not only one of the main languages used in contemporary web development, but it also has many non-web based applications, from.pdf files to desktop widgets. Thus, Javascript is an extremely versatile and valuable language to have command of. In this lesson, Mark from LearnToProgram.tv demonstrates how to begin coding with Javascript, as well as how to test your code using a text editor (Mark recommends Komodo Edit). Finally, learn how to use Javascript to manipulate HTML pages.
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Knowledge of HTML 5 is necessary for any contemporary web developer. Understanding where it came from will help you understand what this still-emerging programming language can accomplish and where it’s going. In this introductory lesson to HTML 5 and CSS, Mark Lassoff from LearnToProgram.tv gives an overview of HTML, the programming language that is the foundation of both websites and web applications. He covers HTML 4.01, XHTML, and HTML 5, as well as the design element of web design, CSS.
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If you dream of developing the latest and greatest app for Apple computers or iPhones, you must have a solid understanding of the language used on all Apple products: Objective-C. So, start with the basics in this Objective-C programming series! The introductory lesson will help you get started with either the iOS or OS X platform. You’ll become acquainted with the environment you write your code in, Xcode, and learn how to begin a new project.
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Did you know that you don’t have to have years of experience in web development to create a fun and retro text-based game? If you’ve ever been interested in game development, begin by learning the basics of setting up a simple game in Python with this lesson from Learn to Program! Your foray into game development starts as Alex Bowers explains the objectives of the simple game, “Monster.” Learn how to define the Main class and character variables, as well as how to call the class.
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Want your code to interact with user input? Depending on which version of Python you are using, you’ll want to use different functions. Luckily, this tutorial by Learn to Program has got you covered: if you are using Python 2.7 or earlier, you will learn the raw_input function; if you are using Python 3, just the plain old input function will work for you. For those who are interested, this tutorial also covers how the input function has improved with newer versions of Python.
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Want to learn one of the most widely used programming languages in the world? Python is a cross-platform, object-oriented language that is free to use. Before you can begin to learn how it works, however, you must install and download a few things: Python 3.2 and Eclipse. These will allow you to write and run code in a Python-oriented testing environment. Learn to Program guides you through the installation process in this preliminary lesson.
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Want to build a website that is both attractive and user-friendly? This tutorial touches on the basics of CSS and how it interacts with HTML. Learn about who sets CSS standards, and what’s in store for its future. As a bonus, Learn to Program shows you what one of the most popular websites in the world looks like without CSS. (Warning: it isn’t pretty.) HTML experience is required.
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We use fonts every time we type, but do we really understand them? In this first in a series of typography lessons from Yes I'm a Designer, get an introduction to the wonderful world of fonts. You'll learn how to use InDesign to view the full range of glyphs in a font (beyond the characters you're used to seeing on your keyboard), discover how fonts are stored on your computer, and unravel the mystery of unicode.
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Want to learn a programming language that will do a lot of the work for you? Check out Professor Paul Krause's introduction to Ruby on Rails, a highly dynamic and fully object-oriented framework for creating websites. In this first of a series of lessons on Ruby, hear the history of Ruby on Rails and why it's useful, and find out how Ruby can cope with problems that would leave Javascript reeling.
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If you are an HTML scripting enthusiast, and you use JavaScript, try this lesson to make your work easier! In this introductory jQuery lesson for beginners, learn how to get jQuery on your page and get up-to-speed with basic jQuery commands. Even beginners to JavaScript can write jQuery within minutes! It's also the most universally used JavaScript library in the world, so odds are your next employer will be using it. In this lesson, learn about showing and hiding, fading, and sliding.
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