Arduino development on the command line
At Your Command
When programming an Arduino microcontroller board for the first time, most people use the Arduino IDE, a graphical development environment. However, if you prefer the command line, you have a powerful alternative: Arduino CLI.
The Arduino [1] project was initially created in 2005 at the Interaction Design Institute Ivrea in Italy as an educational tool to teach students how to create and program interactive devices with sensors and actuators. Over time, the project expanded beyond its academic origins and became the go-to platform for hobbyists interested in programming microcontroller boards.
The Arduino graphical integrated development environment (IDE) [2] (Figure 1) has played a significant role in Arduino's success. It's easy to learn, without too many bells and whistles, but with all the basics you need. If you're satisfied with the Arduino IDE or if you use another IDE for Arduino, such as Visual Studio Code [3] with PlatformIO [4], feel free to continue using them. However, many developers have a command-line-centric workflow because it allows them to work more efficiently, while making it possible to check automatically whether an Arduino sketch still compiles correctly after a code or dependency update.
Fortunately, if you prefer a command-line environment for Arduino development, you have an official solution: Arduino CLI [5]. Although its API is still considered unstable until a 1.0 release, it's already an integral part of the Arduino IDE. The command-line interface (CLI) is used by the IDE as a back end for tasks such as detecting boards, compiling sketches, uploading firmware to boards, installing cores and libraries, and more.
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
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.
News
-
Latest Cinnamon Desktop Releases with a Bold New Look
Just in time for the holidays, the developer of the Cinnamon desktop has shipped a new release to help spice up your eggnog with new features and a new look.
-
Armbian 24.11 Released with Expanded Hardware Support
If you've been waiting for Armbian to support OrangePi 5 Max and Radxa ROCK 5B+, the wait is over.
-
SUSE Renames Several Products for Better Name Recognition
SUSE has been a very powerful player in the European market, but it knows it must branch out to gain serious traction. Will a name change do the trick?
-
ESET Discovers New Linux Malware
WolfsBane is an all-in-one malware that has hit the Linux operating system and includes a dropper, a launcher, and a backdoor.
-
New Linux Kernel Patch Allows Forcing a CPU Mitigation
Even when CPU mitigations can consume precious CPU cycles, it might not be a bad idea to allow users to enable them, even if your machine isn't vulnerable.
-
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.5 Released
Notify your friends, loved ones, and colleagues that the latest version of RHEL is available with plenty of enhancements.
-
Linux Sees Massive Performance Increase from a Single Line of Code
With one line of code, Intel was able to increase the performance of the Linux kernel by 4,000 percent.
-
Fedora KDE Approved as an Official Spin
If you prefer the Plasma desktop environment and the Fedora distribution, you're in luck because there's now an official spin that is listed on the same level as the Fedora Workstation edition.
-
New Steam Client Ups the Ante for Linux
The latest release from Steam has some pretty cool tricks up its sleeve.
-
Gnome OS Transitioning Toward a General-Purpose Distro
If you're looking for the perfectly vanilla take on the Gnome desktop, Gnome OS might be for you.