Install Arduino CLI on Windows, understand that it is the engine under Arduino IDE 2, and compile, upload, and manage cores and libraries from the terminal.
How Arduino IDE 2 Serial Plotter reads numbers over USB, the line format it wants, a simulated temperature and humidity stream, multiple traces, and what to do when the graph is empty or upload fails.
How Serial Monitor works in Arduino IDE 2: baud rate, line endings, timestamps, print debugging, fake sensor data, and parsing what the board sends, without treating the window as magic.
What an Arduino library is, how Library Manager differs from a .zip or a folder drop, where files land, how to update and remove packages, and how to fix duplicate-class and missing-header errors.
What a core is, why ESP32 is missing on a fresh IDE 2 install, where packages live on disk, how Additional boards manager URLs work, and how to install, update, and remove board support without guessing.
A map of every official Arduino software tool in 2026 (IDE 2, CLI, App Lab, Cloud, MicroPython, PLC IDE, and the rest), who each one is for, and which one you should install today.
Why ESP32 and ESP8266 are missing from Arduino IDE 2 on day one, how Board Manager URLs and cores work, and a complete install path for Espressif's ESP32 package and the ESP8266 community package, through a first Blink upload.
