If you know Arduino and C

If you've written setup() and loop() in C or C++, Thingstudio will feel different in three ways. It uses Python rather than C, you wire events together instead of writing a loop, and a change goes to the board in seconds without reflashing.

Python instead of C

The board runs MicroPython, which you flash once in place of an Arduino sketch. Your own code, in function nodes and custom nodes, is Python.

Python is slower than C and uses more memory. That's fine for sensing, switching, displays and networking. It's the wrong tool for tight timing, such as bit-banging a protocol at microsecond precision or sampling at high rates.

Events instead of a loop

There's no loop(). Each job is its own chain of nodes, started by an event: a timer, a pin change, a network message. Jobs don't wait for each other. See event-driven programming.

The interrupt node works like attachInterrupt(). The difference is that your code runs safely in the main program, not inside the interrupt, so you can do anything there.

No compile-and-flash cycle

The firmware stays the same. Deploying a flow sends a compiled file to the board, over USB or WiFi, and the board swaps it in. Changing a flow and trying it again takes seconds.

What stays the same

Thingstudio checks your pin numbers against the board before deploying, and refuses pins that would crash it, such as those wired to the flash chip. See boards and processors.

Next: getting started.