What is the comparative performance of Arduino and STM32?
Many electronics enthusiasts face a dilemma when choosing between Arduino and STM32. Arduino has always been popular, but STM32 offers more interfaces, stronger performance, and faster speeds?
Features of Arduino and STM32
Arduino:
Arduino is more geared towards creativity, simplifying hardware operations. Its functions and syntax are very simple and quite user-friendly.
The majority of Arduino’s main control chips are AVR microcontrollers. The advantages of Arduino lie in its high code encapsulation, requiring fewer statements, which lowers software development difficulty.
Arduino is relatively easy to get started with; anyone with a basic understanding of hardware and C++ can develop.
Most functionalities of Arduino come with pre-built libraries, making it easy to use, but it has limited controllability for slightly more complex features.
STM32:
For applications requiring computation or control, STM32 is the better choice. If you purchase a development board for STM32, you need to learn from the hardware level and master its various details.
STM32 focuses more on engineering practicality. In fact, many simple instruments in factories, such as temperature controllers, ordinary motor controllers, low-end PLCs, and some consumer products like toys, game controllers, and wired keyboards/mice, are widely used.
STM32 is primarily designed for professional developers, requiring a certain level of expertise, but the process of writing code to achieve functionality is relatively complex. For example, to output a simple string via serial, while Arduino can accomplish this in about 10 lines of code starting from a new project, using STM32 development tools like Keil may require hundreds of lines of code or more.
Comparison between Arduino and STM32
Arduino has many versions, and their features are not consistent. Taking the most common Arduino UNO R3 as an example, its controller is the AVR 138 microcontroller, which is not on the same performance level as STM32. To some extent, it is similar to the STC12 series from Holtek (only in terms of computation). The Arduino MEGA 2560 is considered the leader among MCU versions of Arduino, with rich interfaces, comparable to the STM32F1 series, but with relatively high power consumption and noticeable chip heating, while the similarly packaged STM32F1ZET6 generates minimal heat, sometimes even unnoticeable at lower ambient temperatures.
Based on the different characteristics of both, we can compare them according to different applications:
In terms of ease of learning: Arduino is significantly easier than STM32.
Basic programming concepts required: Arduino: Object-oriented class C++, class Java-based, its language is based on C but somewhat different. STM32 primarily uses standard C as its main development language.
Knowledge gained after learning: Arduino is weaker than STM32.
Because Arduino encapsulates many low-level operations, unless you attempt to write libraries for Arduino and its accompanying circuit modules, you will only remain at a basic programming level.
In terms of openness: Things made with STM32 can be open-sourced if desired, or kept completely private.
Ease of building peripheral circuits: Arduino is much easier than STM32.
Expandability: Arduino is comparable to STM32, as Arduino has most of the controller’s pins printed out.
Cost, assuming identical functionality: Arduino is more expensive than STM32.
In summary
If you are still unsure how to choose, here are some suggestions:
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If you are an ordinary student below university level with limited knowledge of programming languages, it is recommended to start with Arduino.
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If your C skills are weak, jumping straight into STM32 may lead to quick frustration.
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If you are learning solely for employment, go for STM32 microcontrollers decisively.
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If you are learning just for fun, are not from an electronics background, and lack confidence, Arduino is recommended.
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If you have a good programming foundation, STM32 is advisable. Once you master it, you can easily handle what the Arduino open-source community has created.
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Of course, if you are capable, try both. Generally, within a week, you can grasp the basic features of Arduino, and later, if necessary, you can easily port Arduino code to STM32 and other MCU platforms.
In fact, these two target slightly different directions; Arduino is generally chosen by electronics enthusiasts and DIYers, while STM32 is often used for actual product development and manufacturing. However, the Arduino series now also supports STM32 chips. By first downloading the Arduino firmware, you can then use the Arduino development environment for programming. Choosing what suits your project type and needs is the most important.
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