RP2040 has zero flash on board and is a terrible chip to use as an example. Its actually a lot more complex to boot up than other chips, and I personally consid

RP2040 has zero flash on board and is a terrible chip to use as an example. Its actually a lot more complex to boot up than other chips, and I personally consider it closer to a microprocessor than a microcontroller (its somewhere in between). STM32F0 is a cheap Cortex M0+ that has on-board flash and on-board oscillator. Other Cortex M0+ parts are similar (with the RP2040 as a massive exception). This means that the board design is extremely simple. --------- > the SoC, RAM, flash, USB connector, the rest, and it's all machine placed and soldered, and individually tested. Case in point: STM32F0 has RAM, Flash, Oscillator all on the SoC. Just apply Vcc + Ground and your code is running. I guess programming is somewhat difficult, but sockets do exist for a variety of form factors. ZIF sockets for DIP are cheap, looks like the sockets for STM32F0 (64 quad flat package) are a bit pricy though. But an "on board" chip programmer is simple in my experience. STM32 / Microchip SAM Cortex chips are designed to be easily programmed and prototyped. -------- I think you're right in that hobbyists ought to start with developer boards. USB "makes sense" to a lot of people. But I also want to encourage hobbyists, even advanced beginners, to mess with chips directly. Some chips are much easier to bootstrap than others. Yes, even on a breadboard. https://www.brennantymrak.com/articles/programming-avr-with-arduino https://www.brennantymrak.com/articles/programming-avr-with-...