Getting Started

This guide is intended for onboarding new Loom developers.

Glossary

Arduino sketch: An Arduino program file (.ino) that you write and upload to a microcontroller.
Board package: Describes how an Arduino sketch should be compiled and uploaded to a microcontroller. It specifies the target hardware, compilation settings, upload interface, and can include vendored libraries. Board packages are installed through the Arduino IDE board manager.
Library: A collection of C++ source files (.cpp and .h) that expose a public API to be used in an Arduino sketch.

Development Environment

Users of Loom (i.e. the teams within OPEnS Lab) install the latest version of the Loom by using the Arduino IDE board manager. However, as a Loom developer, you will want to work on features and fixes using local, version-controlled source files.

Now let’s begin setting up a local development environment on your computer.

Requirements

You must have the following software installed on your computer:

Creating Your Development Environment

Navigate to the Arduino Sketchbook folder. This is typically ~/Arduino or ~/Documents/Arduino.
```
 cd ~/Documents/Arduino
```
Create the libraries folder if it does not already exist and navigate into that folder.
```
 mkdir -p libraries && cd libraries
```
Clone the Loom library into the libraries folder. Name it something like Loom-dev so you can easily differentiate it from the library installed with the Loom board package.
```
 git clone https://github.com/OPEnSLab-OSU/Loom-V4.git Loom-dev
```
Note: Placing a library in your sketchbook’s libraries folder overrides other installed versions of that library.

That’s it! You now have a local development environment for working on Loom.

Testing Changes

While you are working on bug fixes and features, it is a good idea to regularly test your code on hardware.

Under construction…