Low-code programming for the Arduino with Snap4Arduino

Cold Snap!

Article from Issue 277/2023
Author(s):

Snap4Arduino brings the power of low-code programming to the Arduino hardware environment.

Scratch [1], from MIT, is a graphical coding environment that was originally designed for young programmers. Scratch is bundled with many Raspberry Pi releases, and it lets you create digital stories, games, and animations that communicate with the Pi's General Purpose Input/Output (GPIO) pins. There also some options for using Scratch with Arduino modules, however most of these implementations are somewhat limiting.

Snap! [2], which was created at the University of California, Berkeley, is an extended implementation of Scratch. The major difference between Snap! and Scratch is that Snap! has a rich set of technical libraries. Some of these Snap! libraries include database and SQL interfaces, graphical trends, matrix manipulation, MQTT (standard messaging protocol for IoT), and Neural Net modeling. These additional libraries and other advanced features mean that Snap! is not just a teaching tool but is also ready to serve as a low-code alternative for IoT solutions.

The graphical low-code model is often useful in IoT environments, where less-experienced programmers are sometimes forced to adapt to the ideosyncracies of unfamiliar hardware. The Snap4Arduino [3] version of Snap! offers a unique set of libraries that will upload and configure Arduino modules without the user needing any Arduino knowledge or software.

[...]

Use Express-Checkout link below to read the full article (PDF).

Buy this article as PDF

Express-Checkout as PDF
Price $2.95
(incl. VAT)

Buy Linux Magazine

SINGLE ISSUES
 
SUBSCRIPTIONS
 
TABLET & SMARTPHONE APPS
Get it on Google Play

US / Canada

Get it on Google Play

UK / Australia

Related content

  • News

    Solomon Hykes Leaves Daily Operations at Docker; Red Hat Celebrates 25th Anniversary with a New Code Portal; Gnome 3.28 Released; Install Firefox in a Snap on Linux; Arduino Adds Rasp Pi and BeagleBone to the Arduino Create Platform; and IBM Launches a New Data Science Platform.

  • Perl: Arduino Project

    With a few lines of self-written firmware and a simple Perl script, Perlmeister Mike Schilli trains one of his Linux computers with a plugged in Arduino board to switch electrical equipment on and off using a relay. Enchanting.

  • Arduino's cofounder describes the quest for simplicity

    Arduino's cofounder describes the quest for simplicity.

  • Adafruit IO API

    The Adafruit IO API offers a convenient means for network-ready sensors and other components.

  • Bpytop

    Linux users have many options for monitoring system resources, but bpytop, a new Python port of bashtop, more than stands out from the crowd.

comments powered by Disqus
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters

Support Our Work

Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.

Learn More

News