Beginner looking for resources to learn

[untold mica]

Hello keebort frens, I'm interested in learning ZMK, I've got a background in programming, but little to no experience with embedded systems. Where can I go to start learning from the ground up?

Thanks in advance

[slender cypress]

I'd suggest starting by getting familiar with Zephyr basics.

And brush up on your C.

There's a ton of different aspects to it... Limited memory devices tend to be ram constrained, so learning strategies for fixed/static allocations, understanding interrupts and the basic thread model supported by Zephyr, etc.

Having a proper dev kit you can run a debugger against is useful if you want to get serious

[untold mica]

For sure, I'm at this crossroads between embedded systems and human-computer interaction, but I figued I'd spec into embedded systems seeing as the front-end scene is pretty congested with the layoffs atm.

Thanks for the insights, I'll be sure to brush up on my C, might look at in-line assembly as well if that's something I have to make use of down the line.

[slender cypress]

If you were doing any of the super low level bits in Zephyr, that'd be handy. Unlikely to be of much need for day to day work though.

I'd say getting a few of the Zephyr samples going is a great start, understanding the pieces going on for them to run, etc.

[lapis quiver]

Most likely you won't need to touch assembly unless if you're looking to touch something really low level - both ZMK and Zephyr aim for code to be portable across multiple platforms/architectures.

I'd also suggest getting a proper development kit like Pete mentioned - nRF52840DK is a good candidate that will run ZMK out of the box.

[untold mica]

I happen to have a ADALM2000 module from Analog Devices as well as a ADALP2000 Analog Parts kit that I won in a giveaway at a networking event, would those be able to help me learn or should I strictly go for the nRF52840DK?

[slender cypress]

You'd need to search for Zephyr support for those

[lapis quiver]

Zephyr doesn't mention anything related to ADALP2000 so most likely not supported. And even if it were, you'd be best off with nRF52840DK. Pretty much everyone here uses nRF52840.

[slender cypress]

If you don't need wireless, you can also find fairly cheap stm32 nucleo boards that should be supported