The Arduino IDE for MAC here (for programming the board) :
Open-source electronic prototyping platform enabling users to create interactive electronic objects.
Note if using standard Arduino board like NANO or UNO mBlock
directly programs the board, using the Arduino IDE programmer. So
you have to install the Arduino IDE even if you dont use if for writing
the code.
mBlock :
https://www.mblock.cc/en/download/ Note there is no MAC version
for running directly on Mac, but there is the web version here. Or use
WINE on MAC to run windows version of mBlock. This is a little more
complicated to get setup. The version difference is web projects saved
on web, whereas local projects saved on PC.
The board to use (NANO) has xtal timing accuracy, regulator :
Buy it with pins soldered in so it out of the box fits into a protoboard.
simple applications. Get a few of these to make life easy to proto (Temu, Amazon, Ebay) :
Something like this :
And one of these :
Training :
Note mBlock used extensively in schools to teach programming. I use it, as well as C/C++
based IDEs. When doing simple applications I choose the block programming for rapid
proto and development. Lots of fun. The other block programming, similar to mBlock, are
Visuino, Scratch for Arduino, Flowcode, Ardublock, Tuniot (to do wireless stuff), Snap4Arduino,
Nodered. Roughly half are free, the rest paid.
Lastly look at how simple it took to do a analog V to PWM duty cycle output control :
Or a programmable timer/controller :
Often users, developers, hobbyists need timed and qualified event generators, many resorting to 555 timers and the like. The venerable 555 has had a long run but its limited in accuracy and capability. This approach uses block language to create...
www.electro-tech-online.com
Regards, Dana.