Author: Haroon Khalil

Another important rule is to find a reliable way to reproduce a problem. If your circuit behaves in a funny way at random times, try really hard to identify what seems to cause this. Does it happen only when you press a switch? Only when an LED lights up? Whenever you move a jumper? (Many…

The next step is to check for short circuits between 5V and GND on your project. Connect your Arduino to your breadboard by running a jumper from the 5V and GND connections to the positive and negative rails of the breadboard. (Notice we are following the “divide and rule” principle by connecting only these two…

Before trying very complicated experiments, it’s wise to check the simple things, especially if they don’t take much time. The first thing to check is that your Arduino board works, and the very first example, Blink, is always a good place to start, because you are probably most familiar with it, and because the LED…

While investigating, test each component separately so that you can be absolutely certain that each one works by itself. You will gradually build up confidence about which parts of a project are doing their job and which ones are dubious. The best way to do this is using the built-in examples, as they are unlikely…

The ancient Romans used to say divide et impera: divide and rule. Try to break down (at least mentally, and even better by sketching) the project into its components by using the understanding you have and figure out where the responsibility of each component or part of your program begins and ends. 

Try to understand as much as possible how the parts that you’re using work and how they’re supposed to contribute to the finished project. This approach will allow you to devise some way to test each component separately. If you’ve not already done so, try drawing a schematic of your project. This helps you understand…

There will come a moment in your experimentation when nothing will be working and you will have to figure out how to fix it. Troubleshooting and debugging are ancient arts in which there are a few simple rules, but most of the results are obtained through careful work and paying attention to details. More important…