A guide to reading internet tutorials critically:
- Look at the parts involved. Do you have them or can you get them? What will they cost?
- Read the code. Make sure you know what every line of code does. Something that’s incidental to your needs may be causing you a problem that’s easy to solve.
- What processor did they use? Do you have to use that same one? For example, if the tutorial uses basic IO, UART, SPI, I2C,Analog and/or PWM, chance are it can be done on any board. If it uses HID or USB Midi, chances are it’ll work on any USB-native board
Write a Guide to Getting Better Help on Troubleshooting:
Always include:
- description of what you’re making
- Circuit diagram (get in the habit of drawing them)
- Photo of circuit
- Power source
- Link to code
Describe these:
- Describe the expected behavior
- Describe what is actually happening
- Describe the steps you’ve taken so far
Test programs
- A test does one thing. Like blink. Most library examples are good tests. When you are working on a complex project with multiple input and outputs, write a test to make sure each input and each output is working as you expect. Save your test programs, Becky you will need them to re-test as you add features to your project.
If a given component is not working, re-read the tutorial fir each component you are using. Chances are you overlooked a detail of how to make it operate properly.