What is an arduino

First, what is a microcontroller? Originally, microcontrollers were one-time-programmable logic controllers. Some code is compiled and loaded into the device and that code is the logic of how input and output signals are handled. Some version of a microcontroller is at the heart of any embedded system - e.g. home appliances, cars, gaming devices, etc.

The first reprogrammable microcontroller was the Parallax Board of Education^[1].

The re-programmable Parallax Board of Education and jumper wires

Arduino is an open-source electronics platform based on easy-to-use hardware and software. Arduino boards are able to read inputs - light on a sensor, a finger on a button, or a Twitter message - and turn it into an output - activating a motor, turning on an LED, publishing something online. You can tell your board what to do by sending a set of instructions to the microcontroller on the board. To do so you use the Arduino programming language (based on Wiring), and the Arduino Software (IDE), based on Processing. Once finished with a prototype, the board can be reused in the next project and new code sent to the microcontroller.

An early Arduino board

Arduino was born at the Ivrea Interaction Design Institute in Italy as an easy tool for fast prototyping, aimed at students without a background in electronics and programming. As soon as it reached a wider community, the Arduino board started changing to adapt to new needs and challenges, differentiating its offer from simple 8-bit boards to products for IoT applications, wearable, 3D printing, and embedded environments.^[2]

Modularity is the main reason why Arduino and the vocabulary of components that interface with it have become well known as tools for prototyping. It is an easy way to test an idea, create a working concept design.