An edit-compile-test cycle of several minutes + a hang or so quickly eats up the days. That's why the micros are an interesting option, they're running on real

An edit-compile-test cycle of several minutes + a hang or so quickly eats up the days. That's why the micros are an interesting option, they're running on real hardware but can be flashed in seconds and debugged in realtime with a JTAG cable. Very convenient. But on the other hand they tend not to have much storage or network connectivity, so it depends on what you're interested in if they're the right choice. Blinking LEDs and controlling step motors is always fun, though!