A 32-bit Development System For $2

An anonymous reader writes "If you are too cheap to buy a $20 Arduino or too elitist to not have at least a 32-bit processor, Dr. Dobb's shows you how to take a $2 chip, put it on a breadboard with a TTL serial (or USB) cable, and be up and running with a 32-bit C/C++ system. Even if you have to buy the breadboard and the cable, it is comparable in price to an Arduino and much more capable. The Mbed libraries (optional) make it as easy to use a 'duino, too."

Very cool - but where do you get the chip for $2?

[mykepredko]

Digi-Key $3.48 and Mouser $3.49

Still could be something you can have a lot of fun with!

myke

Micromite

[psergiu]

Here's a better one-chip sollution:

MicroMite [geoffg.net].

PIC32 running a full BASIC interperter [mmbasic.com] (ANSI X3.113-1987, with optional line numbers, structured programming features like do loops, multiline if statements, user defined subroutines and functions. )

You don't even need to install Arduino or another IDE to use-it - you just need a VT100 terminal emulator and use the built-in editor.

Re:This

[Klivian]

Or the TI LAUNCHPAD boards, they are Cortex-M4Fs and quite capable.

Penny wise, pound foolish?

[bhlowe]

Spending a little more money up front often pays off with a better product, bigger user community, more sample code, more documentation... and no breadboarding!

Re:While I'm off RTFA...

[cdrudge]

Google the difference between a microcontroller (this, Arduinos, etc) and microprocessor (RaspberryPi). They both have their advantages and disadvantages and areas that they are designed for.

Re:This

[mirix]

I'm partial to the STM32 discovery & nucleo boards. They are cheap. Ranging from $7-15 or so depending on the model. Variants with Cortex M0, M3, M4.

Development on STM32 can be done on entirely open source tools too, which is nice. With GCC,
libopencm3 [libopencm3.org], and
linux st-link support [github.com].