Intro to Micro:Bit

The Micro:Bit is a microcontroller, a small computer that has a lot of extra parts to make it more useful. The computer CPU in your laptop computer is designed to be very powerful and do only a few things well. Everything else that a computer might have to do, such as display images on a monitor or read keystrokes from the keyboard, is handled by other chips. But a microcontroller has many of these peripherals built into it, which makes them easier to use.

Additionally, microcontrollers are small and can run off a small battery, so they can be built into many other devices. Even your toaster might have a microcontroller in it.

In the next lessons we are going to explore the basics of the Micro:Bit microcontroller and learn how to make simple programs.