{"id":11059,"date":"2023-09-19T15:01:45","date_gmt":"2023-09-19T19:01:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/itp.nyu.edu\/physcomp\/?page_id=11059"},"modified":"2026-02-01T16:22:38","modified_gmt":"2026-02-01T21:22:38","slug":"helpful-tips","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/itp.nyu.edu\/physcomp\/helpful-tips\/","title":{"rendered":"Tips from Instructors"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"A_guide_to_reading_internet_tutorials_critically\"><\/span>A guide to reading internet tutorials critically:<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Look at the parts involved. Do you have them or can you get them? What will they cost?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Read the code. Make sure you know what every line of code does. Something that&#8217;s incidental to your needs may be causing you a problem that&#8217;s easy to solve.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>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&#8217;ll work on any USB-native board\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Write_a_Guide_to_Getting_Better_Help_on_Troubleshooting\"><\/span>Write a Guide to Getting Better Help on Troubleshooting:<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Always include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>description of what you\u2019re making\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Circuit diagram (get in the habit of drawing them)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Photo of circuit\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Power source\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Link to code<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Describe these:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Describe the expected behavior\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Describe what is actually happening\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Describe the steps you\u2019ve taken so far<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Test_programs\"><\/span>Test programs<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>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.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A guide to reading internet tutorials critically: Write a Guide to Getting Better Help on Troubleshooting: Always include: Describe these: Test programs 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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11059","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","category-resources"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/itp.nyu.edu\/physcomp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11059"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/itp.nyu.edu\/physcomp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/itp.nyu.edu\/physcomp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itp.nyu.edu\/physcomp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/55"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itp.nyu.edu\/physcomp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11059"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/itp.nyu.edu\/physcomp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11059\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22407,"href":"https:\/\/itp.nyu.edu\/physcomp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11059\/revisions\/22407"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/itp.nyu.edu\/physcomp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11059"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itp.nyu.edu\/physcomp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11059"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itp.nyu.edu\/physcomp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11059"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}